Rare occurrence of two stomatopod species from Chennai coast

A total of 37 species of stomatopods belonging to the family Squillidae are known to occur in the seas around India of which, 17 species are recorded from Chennai coast. While observing the routine trawl landings at Kasimedu Fisheries Harbour, on 20th September 2012, two specimens of stomatopods, which differed from the usual species landed were collected (Fig. 1 & 2). On close examination, they were identified as Carcinosquilla multicarinata (White, 1848) and Clorida latreillei (Eydoux & Souleyet, 1841). The total length of the former species was 105 mm and the latter 96 mm. Both the specimens were females and hauled from a depth of 40 m off Chennai