Abstract:
The marine ornamental fish export industry becomes a valuable foreign income generator
over the past few years. However, illegal exporting of marine ornamental fishes has
threatened the most marine species. Illegal exports continue, despite the available
sufficient regulations including Fauna and Flora Protection Act No 49 of 1993 and
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 02 of 1996 of Sri Lanka. Illegal exporting of
marine ornamental fishes also attributed to the misidentification of the marine species.
Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a user-friendly marine ornamental fish
identification guide based on a dichotomous key which aids to minimize the
misidentification issues. Ten highly demanded marine ornamental species were selected
from the Sri Lanka Customs database. In addition to that, 14 export restricted marine
ornamental species and 17 export-prohibited species were chosen for preparation of the
guide based on Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 02 of 1996. Secondary data
were utilized to identify the morphometric and meristic characters that discriminate
against the fish families. Morphological characters used to identify the species are
included; body colour, body patterns, pectoral fin length, presence of stripes, number and
position of the photophores, and head length. Fish species that live in the same area at the
adult growth stage was used for collecting morphological characteristics among
individuals of the same species. Forty-one species under the 16 families were included in
the dichotomous key to find out from the study that Family Chaetodontidae has the
highest number of restricted species (n=12). Under the prohibited species,
family Haemulidae bears the highest number of species (n=4). The developed guide is
important for fish divers, collectors, exporters as well as customs officers to identify the
restricted and prohibited species. The dichotomous key developed in the present study
will be utilized for the development of marine ornamental fish identification mobile
application.
Keywords: Dichotomous key, Marine ornamental fish, Sri Lanka, Mobile application
