Researchers from India’s ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) have identified two more species of the high-value seer fish.
They discovered the species Arabian sparrow seer fish (Scomberomorus avirostrus), which CMFRI said is entirely new to science, while the other is the “resurrected” Russell’s spotted seer fish (Scomberomorus leopardus) – previously known as the spotted seer fish.
According to the findings of a team of taxonomists, led by Dr E M Abdussamad, Principal Scientist of CMFRI, the spotted seer fish (Scomberomorus guttatus) that was once considered a single species, is actually a complex of three distinct species. These include the newly-discovered seer fish, the resurrected seer fish, and the existing spotted seer fish. With this finding, the total number of seer fish species in Indian waters has increased to six.
The discovery emerged from a comprehensive taxonomic study on spotted seer fish found along the Indian coast. This highlighted considerable divergence in the morphometry and genetic structure of these fish collected from different regions of the coast.
The new species was given the common name of Arabian sparrow seer fish by the CMFRI team, owing to its typical bird-beak-like snout. This inhabits the Arabian Sea coast north of Mangalore and its distribution extends up to the Arabian Gulf based on the available scientific information.
Distribution of the other two was along the Bay of Bengal coast north of Nagapattinam, including the Andaman Seas, and China Sea.
These three seer fish species are smaller in size compared to their counterparts and are mostly found in nearshore waters. According to the researchers, their tasty flavour and high market value make them a prized catch.
“This is a significant achievement that adds to our understanding of marine biodiversity and has the potential to contribute to the country’s marine fisheries sector in several ways,” Abdussamad said.
These are the fourth and fifth species in the series discovered and gifted by the team to science. Their previous findings include one new species each of barracuda, chub mackerel and que.
