International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.4, 31-36
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one specimen with normal dorsal fin from the same fishing lot at the same fishing locality to make a comparison
were obtained. Body and fins were examined carefully for external parasites, malformations, amputations and any
other morphological anomalies. The specimens were deposited in the fish collection of the Fish Welfare Branch,
Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Once in the laboratory, measurements were recorded to the nearest millimetre.
2 Results
Albinism case was observed in the species of
E. areolatus
. The description of the aberrant specimen in this species
studied is given below based on the case of albinism.
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: Epinephelidae
Epinephelus areolatus
(
Forsskal,
1775)
Colour of normal specimen (TL 415 mm), Number of specimen = 1 (Figure 1):
Body and head with general pale-green to yellow coloration. Round dark spots distributed all over the body, head
and fins, getting smaller toward the mouth. Large spots at the base of the spinous part of the dorsal fin.
Figure 1
Epinephelus areolatus
, TL 415 mm, showing normal coloration
Colour of abnormal specimens
Number of Specimen = 1 (TL, 410 mm) (Figure 2):
The whole body appeared lacking any coloration. A trace of the rounded- dark spots appear on the body, head and
dorsal fin. The remaining fins appear to have lost their dark spots.
Figure 2
Epinephelus areolatus
, TL 410 mm, showing case of albinism
