On the record of the red cornet fish Fistularia petimba (Syngnathiformes, Fistularidea) in Jask Port, the Oman Sea

According to the data recorded from Cadiz area located in the Mediterraneans (Cardenas. et al.,1997) the red cornet fish Fistularia petimba Lacepede,1803 is a large fish typically found along soft bottom coastal areas and usually at a depth of over 10m (Banon and Sande, 2008). Fistularia commersonii is often misidentified as Fistularia petimba Lacepede (Randall, 1992). Cornet fish distribute in the tropical waters of the Atlantic and Indo pacific. The north eastern limit of distribution is recognized in the Atlantic from Cape Blanc and Cape Verde Islands to Angola (Fritzsche, 1990). Besides, the geographic distribution ranges from tropical waters of the Atlantic to the Indian and pacific oceans (Banon and Sande, 2007). Two other variant species records were noted from northward of this area in Cadiz, on the Mediterraneans (Cardenas et al., 1997) and along to the Azores Islands (Azevedo et al., 2004). According to Fritzsche 1976, Fistularia L. comprises four species: F.corneta Gillbert and Starks, 1904, F.petimba Lacepede, 1803, F.taba Caria L., 1758 and F.commersonii RÜppel, 1835. Species identification was based on the absence of both elongated bony plates embedded in the skin along the midline of the back anterior to dorsal fin posterior lateral line and ossifications ending in a sharp spine immaculate red or orange (typical of F.petimba). No elongated bony plates along the midline of the back, posterior lateral line ossification without a spin, rows of blue spots on the back, sides and snout typically, were observed in Fistularia commersonii (Pais et al., 2007). The genus Fistularia Linnaeus, 1758 contain four species of which only two, Fistularia tabacaria and F.petimba, are distributed in the eastern Atlantic