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Rare Occurrence of a Partially Ambicoloured Flatfish, Brachirus orientalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), from Kerala, South West Coast of India

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Abstract

Ambicolouration is an abnormality which occurs as pigmentation in certain areas of the fish. The present study documents the occurrence of partial ambicolouration in Oriental sole, Brachirus orientalis (Bloch and Schneider 1801) collected from central Kerala. The ambicolouration was observed around 38% in the blind side of the fish similar to the colouration in the ocular side restricted to the caudal area which is extended anteriorly to the dorsal and anal fins. Meristic characters did not reveal any significant variation with the normal fish. No visible abnormalities in vertebrae were noticed in the ambicoloured fish.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Principal, Rev. Fr. Jose John CMI, Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Thevara, Kerala (India) for his wholehearted support and for providing the facilities.

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Leena Raphael: sample collection, conceptualization, formal analysis, writing original draft, review and editing. Aneesh Kumar KV: Visualization, review and editing. Anu Thottappilly: formal analysis, review and editing.

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Correspondence to Leena Raphael.

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Raphael, L., Aneesh Kumar, K.V. & Thottappilly, A. Rare Occurrence of a Partially Ambicoloured Flatfish, Brachirus orientalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), from Kerala, South West Coast of India. Thalassas 39, 301–305 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-022-00497-3

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