Abstract
A dead specimen of a spot-fin porcupine fish Diodon hystrix was observed on the sea shore in Mandarmani, West Bengal, India. The fish weighed 2.7 kg, 76.5 cm in length and 2.54 cm in eye diameter. Although distributed circumtropically and recorded from Indian coastal waters, D. hystrix is not harvested at present, as a part of commercial capture fishery. Scars and symptoms ensuring trawler net trap caused death of the specimen. This incident warrants for a strict vigil on fishing gear used in this part of Bay of Bengal so as to ensure death escape of non-target marine resources.
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Acknowledgments
The author thankfully acknowledges the constructive views of the anonymous reviewers in upgrading the manuscript to its present form. The author is thankful to the Teacher-in-Charge, Sarojini Naidu College for Women, Kolkata, for the facilities provided including preservation of the fish specimen. The author also acknowledges the contribution of her students, Priyanka Das and Gunjan Roychowdhury for locating the specimen in the sea beach.
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Aditya Bandyopadhyay, S. On the Record of a Spot-Fin Porcupine Fish, Diodon hystrix (Linnaeus, 1758) from Mandarmani, Bay of Bengal Coast of West Bengal, India. Proc Zool Soc 67, 175–177 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-013-0087-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-013-0087-y