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Morphological Abnormalities of Indian Ring Skate, Orbiraja powelli (Alcock, 1898) (Rajiformes: Rajidae) Collected in the Southwest Coast of India

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Abstract

Morphological abnormalities were observed for five specimens of Indian ring skate, Orbiraja powelli (Alcock, 1898) collected in the southwest coast of India. These abnormalities included an extra dorsal fin situated almost at the middle of the tail, a pouched skin fold at the tip of ventral snout, absence of caudal fin, presence of a tissue growth on the ventral side of disc and short tail without second dorsal fin and caudal fin. Morphological and molecular methods did not show variations in the specimens collected.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. William Toby White, Ichthyologist CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere Flagship, who helped us in confirming the molecular identity of the species. The first author is grateful to University of Kerala and Worldwide Fund for Nature for the financial support.

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  1. Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 695581, India

    Venugopal Bhagyalekshmi & Appukuttannair Biju Kumar

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  1. Venugopal Bhagyalekshmi
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Bhagyalekshmi, V., Kumar, A.B. Morphological Abnormalities of Indian Ring Skate, Orbiraja powelli (Alcock, 1898) (Rajiformes: Rajidae) Collected in the Southwest Coast of India. Thalassas 36, 193–200 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-019-00167-x

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