Allenbatrachus grunniens ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Allenbatrachus grunniens ( Linnaeus, 1758) View in CoL

Systematic position

Class-Actionopterygii

Order- Batrachoidiformes

Family- Batrachoididae

Genus- Allenbatrachus Greenfield, 1997

Species - Allenbatrachus grunniens ( Linnaeus, 1758) View in CoL

( Fig. 2a View Fig )

Description: The examined specimens exhibited distinctive morphological characteristics, including a body adorned with dark, marbled patterns and a head region characterised by a concentration of cirri interspersed throughout the mandibles. Furthermore, the species exhibited pointed and flattened cranial structures, along with a distinctly protruding lower jaw. Gill openings were present at the base of the pectoral fins. The subopercular regions consisted of two spines. No axillary foramen was observed along the base of the pectoral fins. The measured morphometric characters included Total Length (measured from the tip of the snout to the tip of the caudal fin) ( 168.3–193 mm), Standard Length (measured from the tip of the snout to the base of the caudal fin) ( 144.6–164 mm), Head Length (from the tip of snout to the operculum) ( 55.3–63.8 mm), Body Depth (depth of the body at its maximum) ( 21.9–39.4 mm), Snout Length (from the tip of the snout to the eyes) ( 6.4–11.3 mm), Pre-dorsal Length (from the tip of the snout to the base of the dorsal fin), Pre-anal Length (from the tip of the snout to the base of the anal fin), Length of pectoral fin (from the base to the tip of the longest fin ray), Length of caudal fin (from the base to the tip of the longest fin ray), Caudal peduncle length (from the end of anal fin to the beginning of the caudal fin), Caudal peduncle depth Inter-orbital length (distance between the eyes) and Eye Diameter. The standard length was measured as 82.2–97.4% in Total Length. The head length was measured as 37.8– 39% in terms of the Standard Length. The body depth was 15.2–24.4% of the Standard Length. The pre-dorsal Length measured as 30.2–38.8% of the Total Length and

36.8–39.8% of the Standard Length. The pre-anal Length was 50.5–57.1% of Total Length and 58.6–65.7% of Standard Length. The pectoral fin measured 17.9–26.2% in Standard Length, the caudal fin was 20.5–24.9% in Standard Length, Caudal peduncle length was 5.5–7% in Standard Length, Caudal peduncle depth was 3.8–3.9% in Standard Length. The Snout Length was 11.6–17.7% of Head Length, the Inter-orbital Length was 18–37.5% of Head Length, and the Eye Diameter was 14.4–23.9% of Head Length. Among the meristic characters, the dorsal fin consisted of three spines and 21 rays, the pectoral fin had 22 fin rays, the pelvic fin consisted of one spine and two rays and the anal fin had 16 rays.

Distribution: This species is known to be distributed along the Eastern Indian Ocean in the western Pacific region, from the Indian coast to the Myanmar region east to the Philippines and across eastern Indonesia ( Fricke et al., 2025). In India, Allenbatrachus grunniens is found along both the coasts encompassing the states of Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat ( Talwar & Jhingran, 1991; Barman et al., 2012; Barman et al., 2013; Parmar et al., 2015; Joshi et al., 2016; Dash et al., 2020; Ray et al., 2022).