Occurrence of Oxyurichthys paulae (Pezold, 1998) from Ratnagiri Coast, Maharashtra, India

Oxyurichthys paulae (Jester goby) was originally described from the Western Indian Ocean, known only from Cochin, India. Based on the specimens with a maximum SL of 69 mm, the occurrence of O. paulae from the Ratnagiri Coast in Maharashtra, India was reported in this paper. A specimen was collected from a bottom trawler that operated off the Ratnagiri coast of Maharashtra and landed at Mirkarwada fishing harbour in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, on May 2024, for the first time. The fish was taxonomically identified as O. paulae [1], belonging to the family Oxudercidae based on its morphometric and meristic characteristics. The result of the current study confirmed the occurrence of this species from the eastern Arabian Sea and provided the first report of this species from Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.