First record of Polydactylus mullani (Polynemidae)
from the Sultanate of Oman
byPhilippe Béarez* (1), Sophie Kerneur (2) & Hiroyuki Motomura (3)Résumé. - Premier signalement de Polydactylus mullani (Polynemidae) à Oman.
Le barbure à tâche noire d’Arabie, Polydactylus mullani, est
une espèce endémique de la mer d’Arabie, vivant le long des côtes
indiennes et pakistanaises. Sa présence est ici signalée pour la première fois à l’extrémité sud-ouest du golfe d’Oman. Il se pourrait
que P. mullani ait été confondue jusqu’à présent avec Polydactylus sextarius, dans la mesure où, jusqu’en 2001, la première espèce n’était considérée que comme une sous-espèce de la seconde.
Cependant, P. mullani n’est cité dans aucun des travaux traitantdes poissons d’Oman postérieurs à 2001. Le nombre d’espèces dePolynemidae connues en Oman s’élève donc aujourd’hui à trois :Eleutheronema tetradactylum, P. mullani et P. plebeius.
Key words. - Polynemidae - Polydactylus mullani - Arabian Sea Gulf of Oman - New record.
The ichthyofauna of the Sultanate of Oman has been subject toseveral important studies for these last twenty years (Al-Abdessalaam, 1995; Randall, 1995; Manilo and Bogorodsky, 2003; Al-Jufaili et al., 2010). Nevertheless, much work still remains to be done onfish taxonomy and ecology in this area, especially in the Persian
Gulf and Gulf of Oman, as demonstrated by recent new descriptions (e.g., Carvalho and Randall, 2003; Baldwin, 2005; Iwatsuki
and Carpenter, 2009) or new records (e.g., Béarez et al., 2008;
Jawad and Al-Mamry, 2009).
Al-Abdessalaam (1995) did not report any species of Polynemidae from Oman. Randall (1995) mentioned two species: Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Shaw, 1804) and Polydactylus sextarius
Bloch & Schneider, 1801. Manilo and Bogorodsky (2003) cited
only Polydactylus plebeius (Broussonet, 1782) as distributed along
the coast of Oman. Finally, Al-Jufaili et al. (2010) mentioned threespecies: E. tetradactylum, P. sextarius and P. plebeius. Polydactylus
sextarius is distributed in the eastern Indian and western Pacific
Oceans and does not occur in the western Indian Ocean (Motomuraand Iwatsuki, 2001; Motomura, 2004). Therefore, the abovementioned P. sextarius records from the Arabian Sea, including
Oman, are most likely to be based on Polydactylus persicus
Motomura & Iwatsuki, 2001 or Polydactylus mullani (Hora, 1926).
The specimen herein described is easily recognized as P. mullani because of the combined presence of three diagnostic characters (Motomura and Iwatsuki, 2001; Motomura, 2004): a blackish
spot larger than pupil on lateral line above posterior end of operculum; seven pectoral filaments; and second spine of first dorsal fin
more robust than other dorsal fin spines. Polydactylus mullani isendemic to the northern Arabian Sea, along the Indian and Paki-

Figure 1. - Map of the study area showing the location of Sur, Oman (created with www.aquarius.geomar.de).

stani coasts. The present report documents a small extension of therange of this species into the southwest part of the Gulf of Oman
(Fig. 1), and gives a short description of its sagitta.
Polydactylus mullani (Hora, 1926)
Material examined. - One female obtained at Sur fish market on
29 March 2009 (Fig. 2). The skeleton is housed in the MNHN fish
osteological collection under the number ICOS-00314. The otoliths
are preserved at the MNHN otolith collection under the numberICOT-001603.
Morphometric data. - 297 mm total length, 228 mm standardlength (SL), 77 mm head length, 267 g total weight.
Distribution. - The Arabian blackspot threadfin has a distribution range restricted to the Arabian Sea in the northern Indian Ocean(Motomura and Iwatsuki, 2001). It has been objectively reported
from Pakistan and India, approximately between 25 and 20° N.
The present record extends the known range of the Arabianthreadfin to the west of the Arabian Sea, at the entrance to the Gulfof Oman.
Sagitta morphology
As in most Acanthopterygii, the largest otoliths in P. mullani(1)	UMR 7209, Département “Écologie et gestion de la biodiversité”, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 55 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris
Cedex 05, France.
(2) 66 avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 94410 Saint-Maurice, France. [kerneursophie@yahoo.fr](3)	The Kagoshima University Museum, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan. [motomura@kaum.kagoshima-u.ac.jp]* Corresponding author [bearez@mnhn.fr]
Cybium 2011, 35(2): 167-168.

First record of Polydactylus mullani from Oman

Béarez et al.

Figure 2. - Polydactylus mullani, MNHN
ICOS-00314, 297 mm TL, Sur, Oman.
research grant of the Fyssen Foundation given to Antoine Zazzo. Thanks toFloriane Boullot for taking the picture of the otolith and to Roz Gillis whorevised the English text.

References
Al-Abdessalaam T.Z.S., 1995. - Marine Species of the Sultanate of Oman. An Identification Guide. 412 p. Ministry ofAgriculture and Fisheries, Sultanate of Oman, Publication no.
46/95.
Al-Jufaili S.M., Hermosa G., Al-Shuaily S.S. & Al
Mujaini A., 2010. - Oman Fish Biodiversity. JKAU: Mar.
Sci., 21(1): 3-51.
Baldwin Z.H., 2005. - A new species of bullhead shark, genus
Heterodontus (Heterodontiformes: Heterodontidae), fromOman. Copeia, 2: 262-264.
Béarez P., Kerneur S. & Gabsi Z., 2008. - New record of asurgeonfish from Oman with notes on some uncommon rays.
Cybium, 32(4): 355-358.

Figure 3. - Right sagitta of Polydactylus mullani, MNHN ICOT-001603.
Scale bar = 1 mm.

are the sagittae. Measurements of the right sagitta of our specimen(Fig. 3) are as follows: 9.96 mm length, 4.96 mm height; with aweight of 0.0907 g. The shape of the sagitta outline is rectangular.
The ventral margin is smooth, while the dorsal margin shows conspicuous indentations. The sulcus is positioned above the longitudinal midline of the sagitta, with an ostium widely open anteriorly.
The cauda is distinctly closed and markedly curved posteriorly.
The specimen here considered (228 mm SL) is sensibly bigger
than the previous records mentioned in the literature, i.e., 188 mm
SL (Motomura, 2004).
With this new record of Polydactylus mullani in Omani waters,
three species of threadfin, i.e., E. tetradactylum, P. mullani andP. plebeius, are now known in the area. However, if we consider
that Polydactylus persicus might also be present in the northern partof Oman, around the Musandam Peninsula, the number of polynemids present in the Gulf of Oman could rise to four.
Acknowledgements. - We would like to thank the people from Sur for theircordial reception and help to obtain fish specimens. Funding came from a168

Carvalho M.R. de & Randall J.E., 2003. - Numbfishes fromthe Arabian Sea and surrounding gulfs, with the description ofa new species from Oman (Chondrichthyes: Torpediniformes:Narcinidae). Ichthyol. Res., 50(1): 59-66.
Iwatsuki Y. & Carpenter K.E., 2009. - Acanthopagrus randalli (Perciformes: Sparidae), a new black seabream from thePersian Gulf. Zootaxa, 2267: 43-54.
Jawad L.A. & Al-Mamry J., 2009. - First record of Antennarius coccineus from the Gulf of Oman and second record ofAntennarius indicus from the Arabian Sea coast of Oman. Mar.
Biodiv. Rec., 2: e163.
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Motomura H., 2004. - Threadfins of the World (Family Polynemidae). An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Polynemid
Species known to date. FAO Spec. Cat. Fish. Purp. 3,pp. 1-117.
Motomura H. & Iwatsuki Y., 2001. - Review of Polydactylus species (Perciformes: Polynemidae) characterized by a large
black anterior lateral line spot, with descriptions of two newspecies. Ichthyol. Res., 48(4): 337-354.
Randall J.E., 1995. - Coastal Fishes of Oman. 439 p. Bathurst:Crawford House Publishing.
Reçu le 24 juin 2011.
Accepté pour publication le 22 août 2011.
Cybium 2011, 35(2)