Published December 30, 2025 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Otolithoides Fowler 1933

  • 1. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • 2. Environmental Management and Conservation Research Unit (eNCORe), Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (Pagoh Campus), KM 1 Jalan Panchor, 84600 Muar, Johor, Malaysia & Kim Ichthyologist Centre, Kg Parit Samsu, Jalan Temenggong Ahmad, Johor, Malaysia
  • 3. Institut Sains Biologi, Fakulti Sains, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4. Marine Ecology and Conservation Research Center, National Academy of Marine Research, Kaohsiung 806614, Taiwan, R. O. C. & National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, 94450, Taiwan, R. O. C.
  • 5. Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Kuala Nerus, Malaysia & Fish Division, South China Sea Repository and Reference Center, Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Kuala Nerus, Malaysia

Description

Genus Otolithoides Fowler, 1933

Otolithoides Fowler, 1933, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 100, 12: 364; Type species: Otolithus biauritus Cantor, 1850, type locality: Sea of Penang, Malaya; Weber and de Beaufort, Fish. Indo-Aust. Archipel., 7:499–500, 1936; Chu, Lo & Wu, Monogr. fish. China: 36–37, 1963; Yazdani, J. Zool. Soc. India, 15: 65, 1963 (1966); Dutt and Thankam, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 65 (2): 343, 1968.

Sciaenoides Blyth, 1860, J. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 29 (2):139; Type species: Otolithus biauritus Cantor 1850, type locality: Sitang River, Day, Fish. India: 193, 1878.

Pama Fowler, 1933, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 100, 12; Type species: Bola pama Hamilton 1822; type locality: Calcutta. Weber and de Beaufort, Fish. Indo-Aust. Archipel., 7: 475, 1936. Yazdani, J. Zool. Soc. India, 15: 65, 1963 (1966).

Diagnosis genera. The genus Otolithoides is distinguished from other Sciaenidae genera by the following combination of features: (1) swimbladder with one diverticulum on each side, attached near the posterior end; (2) vertebrae 12+13, with the third bearing a pair of ventral apophyses that do not meet below; (3) interorbital width 26–33% of head length; (4) lateral line scales cycloid, usually covered with small subsidiary scales; (5) second anal spine weak; (6) sagitta with a large pouched “head” and a “tail” only slightly curved and ending in a disc; and (7) absence of predorsal bones (Trewavas, 1977).

Remarks on genus: The genus Pama (Fowler, 1933) is not recognized, as the generic diagnostic characters such as the swimbladder and sagitta type which of its type species, Otolithoides pama, are the same as those of Otolithoides biauritus. Examination of the syntypes and lectotypes of O. brunneus (Day) and O. biauritus (Cantor) confirmed that the former is a synonym of the latter (Talwar, 1995).

Key to the species of Otolithoides in the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia waters

1a. Swimbladder with diverticula of each side arise from anterior end and immediately dividing into a cephalic and an abdominal branch............................................................................... Panna Mohan 1969

1b. Swimbladder with one diverticulum on each side, attached near posterior end..................................... 2

2a. Body depth 12% SL; eye diameter 13% of HL; soft dorsal fin rays 27 to 29.......... Otolithoides biauritus (Cantor, 1849)

2b. Body depth 21–25% SL; eye diameter 10–11% of HL; soft dorsal fin rays 40 to 45..... Otolithoides pama (Hamilton 1822)

Notes

Published as part of Hanafi, Norhafiz, Ilham-Norhakim, Mohd Lokman, Halim, Muhammad-Rasul Abdullah, Chang, Chih-Wei & Seah, Ying Giat, 2025, First specimen-based record and preliminary assessment of the fisheries status of Otolithoides pama (Hamilton, 1822) (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) from the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Strait of Malacca, pp. 73-88 in Zootaxa 5738 (1) on pages 78-79, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5738.1.12, http://zenodo.org/record/19138134

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Additional details

Biodiversity

References

  • Fowler, H. W. (1933) Contributions to the biology of the Philippine Archipelago and adjacent regions. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 100 (12), 1-465.
  • Trewavas, E. (1977) The sciaenid fishes (croakers or drums) of the Indo-West-Pacific. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 33, 253-541. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1977.tb00052.x
  • Talwar, P. K. (1995) Fauna of India and the adjacent countries. Pisces Perciformes: Sciaenidae. Zoological Survey of Indi, Calcutta, vii + 144 pp.