New Distributional Record of Two Flounders, Arnoglossus arabicus and A. macrolophus (Bothidae) from Northeastern Arabian Sea

This present study documents a single specimen of Arnoglossus arabicus (97.0 mm standard length) and A. macrolophus (65.2 mm standard length) from the low-value bycatch of multiday trawlers landed at Veraval Harbour, Gujarat, northwestern coast of India. Arabian flounder, A.arabicus Norman, 1939 has been known only from the type locality, South coast of Arabia and Red Sea in the western Indian Ocean. Large-crested lefteye flounder A. macrolophus Alcock, 1889 is distributed in the Red Sea and Indo-West Pacific: Persian Gulf, Madagascar, India (Bay of Bengal), Philippines and New Guinea, Japan, Australia and New Caledonia. This report significantly extends the geographical range towards the northwestern India and provides the first photographs of A. arabicus. A detailed morphological description, counts and radiographs of both species are also provided herein.