New distributional record of Hawkfish Cirrhitichthys bleekeri Day, 1874 from the west coast of India with taxonomic account

Abstract

The rarely occurred Hawkfish Cirrhitichthys bleekeri Day, 1874 is described based on the single specimen caught during demersal trawling survey conducted at 45 m depth of south west coast of India (9° 02.1’N; 76° 18.2’E at 40-45 m). An analysis of the morphometric, meristic characters and radiographic of the sample are compared with those of existing records of same and sibling species of the genus Cirrhitichthys (C.calliurus, C.aureus) and probability for putative hybrid of hawkfish species is discussed.