First record of larvae of Arnoglossus imperialis (Rafinesque, 1810) (Bothidae, Pieces) Atlantic species from the Indian Ocean

Abstract

Larvae ranging from 7.7 mm NL to 12.2 mm SL were found in zooplankton from the Agulhas Bank. The long leaf-like larval body, the presence of spiny discoid scutes distributed along the bases of median fin rays, cleithra urohyal, posterior basipterygial processes, and in other parts of the body are characteristic features of the species. The larvae were found in the Agulhas Bank only during Jaunary 1963, February 1964 and March/ April 1965. All three stages, preflexion, flexion, and postflexion were found. The adults and larvae of this species are reported only from the Atlantic coast of Europe and Africa from northern Scotland to Angola and the western parts of the Mediterranean. The mixture of Atlantic water and of Agulhas current water at the periphery of the bank may act as speeders of different populations to bank water. The presence of this species in the samples from coastal waters in all three years almost at the same time and their absence at other stations suggest that the species is not a new recruit but an establised species in the area