First occurrence of two Blennidae fishes from Vellar Estuary, Southeast coast of India

Two Omobranchus punctatus (Valenciennes,۱۸۳۶) and one Omobranchus ferox (Herre, ۱۹۲۷) were collected for the first time from the oyster bed ecosystem of Vellar estuary, Tamilnadu. Omobranchus ferox is well distinguished by the presence of a vertical crest posterior of the eye, also Omobranchus punctatus is easily recognized by the presence of horizontal stripes from the posterior operculum to the caudal peduncle; the head region has no cirri or spikes and dorsal fins base with yellow spots. The two species were confirmed at a molecular level by the DNA barcoding technique.

Keywords:

Blennidae , Omobranchus sp. , Morphometric , Vellar estuary , DNA barcoding