East Coast Of Africa Research Articles

Khat induced psychotic disorder: case report

BackgroundKhat (Catha edulis) is a stimulant leaf khat comes from a tree which grows in countries bordering the Red Sea which are along the east coast of Africa and in west Asia. The psycho- active component within these leaves is cathinone. In Ethiopia, Khat is chewed routinely by users for its euphoric effects and as a recreational drug, and chewing khat has an important role as well in both traditional and religious ceremonies. In this case report, we describe the case of a 33-year-old male patient presented with psychotic symptoms after prolonged and heavy khat chewing.Case presentationFindings on psychiatric evaluation encompassing detailed history and mental state examination suggest khat induced psychotic disorder severe in full remission; khat use disorder, severe, in early remission.ConclusionsThis case demonstrates that the use of excess khat above 2 bundles for prolonged duration can manifest with psychotic episodes. A small number of case studies had supported a causal relationship between heavy khat use and psychosis or psychotic symptoms. There have been suicidal attempts and homicidal acts in those who used excess and prolonged use of khat. In our case, the improvement attributed to stopping the khat rather than taking antipsychotics.Therefore, we recommend an urgent social intervention to change the community norms regarding Khat use through psycho-education in media, institution and in person about the relationship between khat use and mental illness. In addition, we suggest the role of religious institutions on the management of khat use not be overlooked. Finally, this study makes a powerful argument for researchers and policy makers to do clinical study to settle a causal effect relation of khat on mental health.

Enabling models of Internet eXchange Points for developing contexts

In 2009, fibre-optic cables landed on the East coast of Africa, the last major area of the world to be connected to the Internet triggering a decade of Internet development (Graham et al., 2015). During the same period, there has been a general transformation of the Internet from static content to video streaming. Technologies such as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) are about to reshape the Internet once again. Globally Internet eXchange Points (IXP) have been a key node on the Internet and a central location for Content Delivery Networks (CDN), though in East Africa they have generally been confined to large cities. There is an understanding that if technology hubs are to develop in other cities, the Internet ecosystem, including IXPs, must extend outwards.This research uses a Proof of Concept (PoC) system design methodology to investigate solutions that containerise IXP functions and develops affordable models for IXPs of various sizes and configurations based on both traditional and software-defined switching paradigms as well as automate the IXP build function. The research argues that it is necessary to develop a national IXP ecosystem by supplementing the national IXP with local IXPs to support economic development outside of the major economic cities of the region. The technology solutions must be used in conjunction with research on the political economy landscape plus optimum deployment to ensure success. This research demonstrates that systems can be designed which are achievable and affordable by exploiting the most suitable model and switching technology for each site. It also determines that software-defined models offer the potential for application development across the IXP.This research concludes that with a combination of function containerisation and astute model selection it is possible to build an affordable set of IXPs to support multiple technology hubs across a national Internet ecosystem. Proposed systems are discussed in the context of East Africa and testbed results discussed in relation to the optimum system design which can be deployed in any IXP setting.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL EVALUATION OF LONG-TERM EARTHQUAKE EVENTS AND ITS CONTRIBUTION IN GENESIS OF TSUNAMI IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

Abstract. A very high magnitude earthquake (9.1 MW) triggered a devastating Tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26th December 2004. The epicentre was located at 3.3° N, 95.8° E with a focal depth of ~30 km. The impacts of Tsunami were felt as far away in Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya along the east coast of Africa. Considering the role of earthquake, in the present study the spatio-temporal analysis of long term (1901 to 2019) earthquake events was performed, which recorded by USGS to understand the genesis of Tsunami (2004) in the Indian Ocean. The study exhibited that the maximum frequency of earthquake was observed between the ranges of 4 MW to 6 MW on the Richter scale during 2001–2010. There was only one earthquake event > 8 MW on the Richter scale (26th December 2004 having depth 30 km) in the Indian Ocean recorded during 1901–2019. The study exhibited that the maximum earthquake was observed between 30–40 km below the surface, and primarily of moderate to low magnitudes. The proximity analysis along the major fault line indicates that the maximum earthquakes were in the buffer of 200 km from fault line in Bay of Bengal. The decadal variation of earthquake exhibits that the maximum number of earthquake events (8427 events) were triggered during the year 2001–2010, whereas during the year 2004, the total 902 earthquake events > 4 MW was recorded. The study indicates that the earthquakes > 7 MW (on Richter scale) and depth below 30 km (shallow earthquake) are primarily responsible to major Tsunami events in the Indian Ocean. The very high magnitude (> 9 MW on the Richter scale) and shallow depth (~30 km) are the major cause of 2004 Tsunami and its high level of damage. There were very low frequency (10–15 events) of earthquake occurred having magnitude > 7 and depth < 30 km.

Wavelet isolation of meridionally moving geopotential height perturbations near the subtropics of eastern Africa and their relationship with the Madden–Julian Oscillation

AbstractPrior to the onset of convection over the western Indian Ocean for many Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) events, equatorward‐propagating upper tropospheric negative geopotential height anomalies are observed along the east coast of Africa. To identify these signals independently from the MJO, we calculate partial meridional‐temporal wavelet transforms averaged between 35 and 45°E and centred in the subtropics. During times when the amplitudes of MJO indices are strong and leading up to convective onset over the western Indian Ocean, increased wavelet power relative to the mean state is observed in the equatorward direction at intraseasonal time‐scales from both hemispheres. Regressions against groups of equatorward intraseasonal wavelet transform time series centred on negative anomalies in the subtropics show extratropical Rossby wave trains extending to the west across the Atlantic similar to signals previously observed leading up to the onset of Indian basin convection in composite MJO events. Compared to globally averaged mean‐state power spectra in the subtropics, increased equatorward propagation of upper tropospheric geopotential height anomalies occurs regionally near eastern Africa on intraseasonal time‐scales, which suggests that local mean‐state conditions, in addition to the MJO, may influence meridional wave propagation. Since these anomalies may in turn influence the onset of MJO convection over the western Indian Ocean and have higher local power, mean‐state conditions near the subtropics of eastern Africa may change the timing of the MJO.

Coral Stone Architecture, Chinese Porcelain, and Indian Ocean Artifacts along the Swahili Coast: Cross-Cultural Dynamics in Medieval East Africa

While the use of Chinese porcelain dishes in the stone towns along the Swahili coast has recently found much attention in art historical scholarship regarding the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, the pre-history of these dynamics in the medieval period has up to now only been fully considered in other fields such as archaeology and anthropology. This paper sheds new light on the interrelations between the built environment and material culture in coastal East Africa from an art historical perspective, focusing on premodern Indian Ocean trajectories, the role of Chinese porcelain bowls that were immured into Swahili coral stone buildings, and on architecture across boundaries in a medieval world characterized by far-reaching transcultural entanglements and connectivity. It will show how Chinese porcelain bowls in premodern Swahili architecture linked the stone towns along the coast with other sites both inland and across the Indian Ocean and beyond, and how these dynamics were shaped by complex intersections between short-distance and long-distance-relationships and negotiations between the local and the global along the Swahili coast and beyond.

Comparative growth and survival performance of sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) in co-cultured pen system with commercial macroalgae

Mariculture has recently been adopted in many parts of coastal East Africa as a source of income and employment to many women and heartbroken fishermen who are the main victim of dwindling wild stock of aquatic resources. The sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) has for long time been collected and sold as export marine product. Macroalgae (Eucheuma denticulatum and Kappaphycus alvarezii) are the common cultured seaweed species that provide hope for future increase in mariculture production. An experiment was conducted along the intertidal lagoon of Unguja Ukuu village in Zanzibar to assess the survival and growth performance of sea cucumber (H. scabra) in two separate pens under co-cultured systems with E. denticulatum and K. alvarezii. Juvenile sea cucumber H. scabra with mean weight (± se) of 67.18 ± 2.06 were integrated with the two common commercial seaweed in pen system for 10 weeks. The results revealed that the growth rate and survival of H. scabra, E. denticulatum and K. alvarezii were better under integration system. The growth of H. scabra was higher (1.038 gd-1) in pen systems co-cultured with K. alvarezii compared to 0.898 gd-1 in pen systems co-culture with E. denticulatum. Survival rate of H. scabra was higher (76%) in the pen systems co-cultured with E. denticulatum compared to that (70%) observed in pen systems co-cultured with K. alvarezii. The results suggest that the best integration of sea cucumber and macroalgae is between H. scabra and K. alvarezii. However, reliable source of H. scabra juvenile is essential for the future expansion of pen co-culture system.

India’s policy towards South Pacific: Expanding horizons of the Indo-Pacific region

ABSTRACTFor India, the concept of Indo-Pacific spans from the East Coast of Africa to the Western Pacific. This is because for India, it is the outer limit of the Indo-Pacific, and South Pacific acts as the new periphery of its Act East policy. Many ASEAN nations are deliberating about the utility of the Indo-Pacific. In the past, the then Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalagewa had proposed the Indo-Pacific treaty and in 2019, ASEAN discussed the new geo-strategic construct despite variations in the approach and subscription. For India, South Pacific has three major objectives catering to its Act East policy; its need for supporting votes for its Security Council permanent member seat, Indian diaspora in the region, and harnessing sea bed mineral resources with island nations under the blue economy concept. However, whether India does have the desire or is just scouting for resources and therefore wants to protect its strategic interest across the Indo-Pacific region needs further scrutiny. India's approach with regard to Indian Ocean has been appreciated but now it is using Act East policy to encapsulate South Pacific region through its Oceania approach. The paper discusses strategic and functional aspects of India's approach.

Legal Framework of Kadhis’ Courts in Zanzibar During the Post Colonial Era

This paper is extracted from an unpublished doctoral thesis: An Investigation of Application of Islamic Jurisprudence on marriage in Kadhis Courts in Zanzibar and Kwara State of Nigeria. Kadhis courts had been in existence in Zanzibar long before the colonial era. The region is located along the east coast of Africa and it is part and parcel of United Republic of Tanzania. The court system of Arab legacy in this region of Africa. Kadhis courts assisted in maintenance of good governance and peaceful co-existence among different peoples within the region since independence. The court makes use of Islamic law in adjudication process on Muslim personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and other related matters. Kadhis courts are part of Islamic legal history of Zanzibar till contemporary era. The court system had witnessed different political regimes. Different reforms were made to make the court system relevant to the ever changing modern world. Kadhis courts do not exist in isolation but are within the hierarchal courts’ structure of Zanzibar. Keywords: Kadhis Courts; Islamic law; Muslim personal matters; Post-Colonial era and Zanzibar. DOI : 10.7176/JLPG/86-04 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

The NorthernZanj, Demadim, Yamyam, Yam/Yamjam,Habasha/Ahabish,Zanj-Ahabish, andZanj ed-Damadam– The Horn of Africa between the Ninth and Fifteenth Centuries

Abstract:This article argues that historians will have a new understanding of northeast and east Africa if they recall the medieval meaning of the termsZanjandAhabish, orHabasha. Before the fifteenth century the termZanjincluded the diverse populations of northeast Africa, so should not be exclusive of the populations of coastal east Africa. Likewise,HabashaorAhabishwas not confined to the peoples of the northern Horn but included the diverse peoples of coastal east Africa. Uncovering older meanings ofZanjandAhabishhelps to identify elusive groups of ancient northeast Africans referred to as northernZanj, Zanj-Ahabish, Ahabish, andDamadim. For identification, this article presents three types of historical data overlooked in the sources. The first consists of the interchangeable names northernZanj,Damadim, Ahabish, Zanj-Ahabish, andZanj ed-Damadimto recast the termZanjand identify theDamadimorYamyam.The second is the broadly inclusive meaning before the fifteenth century of the termHabasha. The third is the reported eloquence in theirButtaaceremony of the northernZanj, and the institutional setting of theButtaawithin the OromoGadaasystem.

Forced summer stationary waves: the opposing effects of direct radiative forcing and sea surface warming

We investigate the opposing effects of direct radiative forcing and sea surface warming on the atmospheric circulation using a hierarchy of models. In large ensembles of three general circulation models, direct hbox {CO}_2 forcing produces a wavenumber 5 stationary wave over the Northern Hemisphere in summer. Sea surface warming produces a similar wave, but with the opposite sign. The waves are also present in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 ensemble with opposite signs due to direct hbox {CO}_2 and sea surface warming. Analyses of tropical precipitation changes and equivalent potential temperature changes and the results from a simple barotropic model show that the wave is forced from the tropics. Key forcing locations are the Western Atlantic, Eastern Atlantic and in the Indian Ocean just off the east coast of Africa. The stationary wave has a significant impact on regional temperature anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere summer, explaining some of the direct effect that hbox {CO}_2 concentration has on temperature extremes. Ultimately, the climate sensitivity and future changes in the land–sea temperature contrast will dictate the balance between the opposing effects on regional changes in mean and extreme temperature and precipitation under climate change.

Spatial distribution, seasonal abundance and exploitation status of shark species in Kenyan coastal waters

Efforts to conserve and manage shark populations are often hampered by a lack of basic data, such as species-specific landings and distribution ranges. We bridge this gap in coastal East Africa by providing data on the distributions, catch rates, morphometrics, and exploitation status of shark species in Kenyan coastal waters. Data were collected from artisanal fishers and from bycatch taken by shallow-water (10–50 m) prawn trawlers from Malindi-Ungwana Bay and demersal research trawlers (10–150-m depth) along the ∼640-km coastline, over a 12-month period (June 2012 to May 2013). A total of 1 893 individual sharks (representing 20 species and 11 families) were sampled from the artisanal fishery (n = 1 610) and the trawlers (n = 283). The demersal trawl bycatches were dominated by the African angelshark Squatina africana (2.39 kg h–1), shortnose spurdog shark Squalus megalops (1.48 kg h–1) and African spotted catshark Holohalaelurus punctatus (0.11 kg h–1). Catches of the scalloped hammerhead shark Sphyrna lewini (0.73 kg h–1), smooth hammerhead shark Sphyrna zygaena (0.60 kg h–1) and grey reef shark Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (0.77 kg h–1) dominated in the prawn trawlers. Only a few species (S. lewini, C. amblyrhynchos, and blacktip reef shark Carcharhinus melanopterus) showed a coast-wide distribution in the artisanal fishery. Artisanal fishers harvested mostly immature specimens of S. lewini, C. melanopterus and blacktip shark Carcharhinus limbatus, suggesting that the fishery might be unsustainable in the long-term. The Endangered S. lewini is the most vulnerable to overexploitation on the Kenyan coast, with most specimens landed (>90%) being below the size at maturity. Data are also presented on morphometric relationships and observed or estimated exploitation reference points (maximum observed length Lmax, asymptotic length L∞, mean length at first maturity Lm, and optimum length Lopt) for the commonly landed species. A more comprehensive coast-wide National Plan of Action is recommended for the management of shark populations in Kenya.

Role of Education of Diabetes to Controlling Plasma Glucose, BMI, Cholesterol, Blood Pressure in Central Hospital Nampula.

Mozambique is located on the East Coast of Africa. In this country, obesity, poor knowledge regarding diabetes, and a lack of awareness of the complications of diabetes are prevalent. Furthermore, most of the population utilizes traditional healers for the treatment of diabetes. There are unhealthy food habits, a sedentary lifestyle in the urban population, and increased economic growth among office-related professions, which is one of the risk factors that cause diabetes and its complications. Currently, no study has been conducted for patients on the effects of education in various modalities of diabetes. Accordingly, there is an extreme need to educate diabetic patients to improve their control of diabetes and to reduce its complications. Adequate medical management and proper lifestyle measures should start directly at the time of the diagnosis of diabetes, which can result in the diabetic individual living a life just as cheerful as that of a non-diabetic person. However, this objective requires proper counselling of the patient specifically at the time of diagnosis, which can be achieved by well-planned educational programs that target the newly diagnosed diabetic individual and create awareness about diabetes. In central hospital Nampula in diabetic OPD, three education sessions were organized, at an interval of one month (baseline, first follow up and second follow up). Each participant was evaluated in each session regarding their BMI, blood pressure, plasma glucose, cholesterol concentrations. The statistical analysis showed strong significantly positive correlation effects with glucose to BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol on controlling each of these parameters. Prior to the commencement of the baseline education session, an evaluation of the evolution of patient knowledge regarding diabetes mellitus (the pretest) was performed. At the end of the second follow up, a posttest was performed, which showed strong significant increases in the knowledge of diabetes.

First record of non-native Bluering angelfish Pomacanthus annularis (Perciformes: Pomacanthidae) from the marine water of Odisha coast, Bay of Bengal, India

The bluering angelfish Pomacanthus annularis (Bloch, 1787) is a well-known pomacanthid distributed in Gulf of Mannar, Indian Ocean, IndoWest Pacific: east coast of Africa, throughout Indonesia and New Guinea to New Caledonia, and in Andaman Sea. For the first time one specimen belonging to this species was caught in the Odisha coast, Bay of Bengal, India. We reviewed its distribution after compilation with available literature.

Fish larvae distribution among different habitats in coastal East Africa.

Fish larvae abundances, diversity and trophic position across shallow seagrass, coral reef and open water habitats were examined to characterize their distribution in coastal East Africa. Larvae were identified to family and analysed for abundance differences between sites and habitats, trophic level using stable-isotope analysis and parental spawning mode. Abundances differed greatly between sites with the highest numbers of larvae occurring in the open-water and seagrass habitats. Larval fish diversity was high across habitats with 51 families identified with small differences between sites and among habitats. Notably, larvae of abundant large herbivorous fishes present in reef and seagrass habitats were almost completely absent at all sampling locations. In the seagrass, demersal spawned larvae were more abundant compared with the reef and open-water habitats. Stable-isotope analysis revealed that fish larvae have a varied diet, occupying trophic level two to three and utilizing planktonic prey. This study offers new insights into distributional aspects of fish larvae along the East African coast where such information is sparse.

Incorporating basic needs to reconcile poverty and ecosystem services.

Conservation managers frequently face the challenge of protecting and sustaining biodiversity without producing detrimental outcomes for (often poor) human populations that depend on ecosystem services for their well‐being. However, mutually beneficial solutions are often elusive and can mask trade‐offs and negative outcomes for people. To deal with such trade‐offs, ecological and social thresholds need to be identified to determine the acceptable solution space for conservation. Although human well‐being as a concept has recently gained prominence, conservationists still lack tools to evaluate how their actions affect it in a given context. We applied the theory of human needs to conservation by building on an extensive historical application of need approaches in international development. In an innovative participatory method that included focus groups and household surveys, we evaluated how human needs are met based on locally relevant thresholds. We then established connections between human needs and ecosystem services through key‐informant focus groups. We applied our method in coastal East Africa to identify households that would not be able to meet their basic needs and to uncover the role of ecosystem services in meeting these. This enabled us to identify how benefits derived from the environment were contributing to meeting basic needs and to consider potential repercussions that could arise through changes to ecosystem service provision. We suggest our approach can help conservationists and planners balance poverty alleviation and biodiversity protection and ensure conservation measures do not, at the very least, cause serious harm to individuals. We further argue it can be used as a basis for monitoring the impacts of conservation on multidimensional poverty.

The Evolution of Economic acftivity in Zanzibar during the reign of Sayyid Said bin Sulton for (1856-1832)

The Research tackles the economic Situation in Zanzibar for4 the Period (1856-1832) the Duration of the rule of Mr.Said bin Sultan on east Africa. It represents the actual and direct Omani rule Over the Political entities Scattered along the east Coast of Africa under the control of a Unified central government after Mr. Said was taken from Zanzibar his Capital in 1832 of ter that he became the actual ruler of east Africa.

Vanishing refuge? Testing the forest refuge hypothesis in coastal East Africa using genome-wide sequence data for seven amphibians.

High-throughput sequencing data have greatly improved our ability to understand the processes that contribute to current biodiversity patterns. The "vanishing refuge" diversification model is speculated for the coastal forests of eastern Africa, whereby some taxa have persisted and diversified between forest refugia, while others have switched to becoming generalists also present in non-forest habitats. Complex arrangements of geographical barriers (hydrology and topography) and ecological gradients between forest and non-forest habitats may have further influenced the region's biodiversity, but elucidation of general diversification processes has been limited by lack of suitable data. Here, we explicitly test alternative diversification modes in the coastal forests using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms, mtDNA, spatial and environmental data for three forest (Arthroleptis xenodactyloides, Leptopelis flavomaculatus and Afrixalus sylvaticus) and four generalist (Afrixalus fornasini, A.delicatus, Leptopelis concolor and Leptopelis argenteus) amphibians. Multiple analyses provide insight about divergence times, spatial population structure, dispersal barriers, environmental stability and demographic history. We reveal highly congruent intra-specific diversity and population structure across taxa, with most divergences occurring during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene. Although stability models support the existence of some forest refugia, dispersal barriers and demographic models point towards idiosyncratic diversification modes across taxa. We identify a consistent role for riverine barriers in the diversification of generalist taxa, but mechanisms of diversification are more complex for forest taxa and potentially include topographical barriers, forest refugia and ecological gradients. Our work demonstrates the complexity of diversification processes in this region, which vary between forest and generalist taxa, but also for ecologically similar species with shared population boundaries.

Drivers, patterns and velocity of saltwater intrusion in a stressed aquifer of the East African coast: Joint analysis of groundwater and geophysical data in southern Kenya

Fresh groundwater resources in coastal East Africa are crucial for the region's socio-economic development but are under threat of salinization caused by changes in recharge patterns and increasing abstraction. With the aim of establishing the drivers behind saltwater intrusion and its current spatial extent, we studied the Kenyan South Coast aquifer, a representative, strategic aquifer under increased pressure. Investigations included electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys and in-situ groundwater measurements (water table and basic quality) together with the analysis of available long-term climatic and borehole monitoring data. Over the last 40 years, groundwater electrical conductivity values at the well field increased by about three times and groundwater levels declined by 1–3 m over the last decade. When put in perspective with the long-term climate (rainfall, temperature) and abstraction records, these trends in groundwater appear to be primarily driven by increased borehole abstraction (+400 m3/day per year in average), whereas observed increasing temperature (+0.02 °C per year) and decreasing rainfall (−0.8 mm per year) could potentially act as a secondary control through reduced recharge. However the low statistical significance obtained for both rainfall and temperature trends over the observation period suggests that no clear conclusion can be made with regards to long-term climate impact on groundwater. Groundwater quality mapping showed that proximity to the ocean, presence of abstraction well-fields and regional geology control groundwater salinity patterns at regional scale. Locally, geophysical data showed that, saltwater intrusion spatial patterns are controlled by local aquifer lithology, groundwater abstraction and freshwater recharge in floodplains. Comparison with previous (1984) resistivity data showed that the saltwater front has advanced toward the well-field by up to 2 km and rose by up to 80 m over the last 30 years, which corresponds to a maximal velocity of about 60 m/y horizontally and 2 m/y vertically. Implementation of groundwater management strategies such as sustainable groundwater exploitation, sourced alternative water supply, and managed aquifer recharge are required to mitigate the effects of seawater intrusion along the East African coastal strip.

Drift analysis of MH370 debris in the southern Indian Ocean

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A flaperon from the flight was found on Reunion Island in July 2015. Two more confirmed pieces of debris were found in Mauritius and Tanzania, and 19 unconfirmed items were found off Mozambique, South Africa, and Madagascar. Drift buoys originating from the designated underwater search area arrived in Reunion Island, Mauritius, and Tanzania. Some of these buoys took a similarly long time as did real debris to reach these destinations, following a heading northeast and then west. For the present study, a maritime object drift prediction model was developed. “High resolution surface currents, Stokes drift, and winds” were processed, and a series of model experiments were constructed. The predicted trajectories of the modeled objects were similar to the observed trajectories of the drift buoys. Many modeled objects drifted northward then westward, ending up in Reunion Island, Mauritius, and Tanzania with probabilities of 5‰, 5‰, and 19‰, respectively. At the end of the simulation, most objects were located near 10°S in the western Indian Ocean. There were significant differences between experiments with different leeway factors, possibly because of the influence of southeast trade winds. The north part of the underwater search area is most likely to be the crash site, because the predicted trajectories of objects originating here are consistent with the many pieces of debris found along the east coast of Africa and the absence of such findings on the west coast of Australia.

A redescription of the gobiid fish Taenioides purpurascens (Gobiidae: Amblyopinae) with comments on, and a key to, species in the genus

The Indo-West Pacific gobiid genus Taenioides Lacepede is further defined and one of the constituent species of the genus, T. purpurascens (De Vis 1884), is redescribed. Taenioides purpurascens is known only from the southeast coast of Australia and is compared to other species in the genus: T. anguillaris, distributed from India northeastward to China, and Japan, and southward to Australia; T. gracilis, distributed along the east coast of Africa and Madagascar to India, northeastward to Japan and southward to Australia; T. kentalleni, known only from Saudi Arabia and Japan; and T. snyderi, known only from southern Japan. Taenioides purpurascens is unique within the genus in having: the fewest dorsal-fin elements (41‒44 vs. 48‒72); the fewest anal-fin elements (34‒38 vs. 41‒65); the fewest vertebrae (27 vs. 28‒45); and a 2-4-2 arrangement of the barbels on the ventral surface of the head (vs. 2-2-2, 2-3-2, or 2-4-2-2). In morphometric comparisons with these other species, T. purpurascens is shown to have the shortest and deepest body. A key to these species is provided.