Identification of marine ornamental fishes in northern part of the Persian Gulf, Iran

In the past decade, the investment in fisheries development has grown remarkably in the Persian Gulf region. A 1800 km of northern coastline of the Persian Gulf, the Oman Sea and more than 14 islands belong to Iran have provided great possibilities of economic activities. In-shore marine islands such as Kish, Farour, Hendurabi, Tonb made a good opportunity for fishing and harvesting of ornamental fishes living on coral reefs. The Kish island have a plenty of coral reefs in around. The study was conducted on the Kish islands to identify various species of reef fishes on October 1997 to November 1998. Experiment was carried out at 77 stations around the islands. Samples were collected by underwater purse_seining, scuba diving, and using anesthetizes by injection around the fish hiding area. Results conducted that overall 113 species belong to 47 families were identified of which Pomacentridae, Acanthuridae, Scaridae and Lutjanidae are the most important in terms of number of species represented. 4 species of Apogonidae, 6 species of Lutjanidae, 11 species of Pomacentridae, 6 species of Nemipteridae, 6 species of Serranidae, 3 species of Teraponidae, 3 species of Sparidae, 3 species of Scorpaenidae, 3species of Scaridae, 3 species of Lethrinidae, 4 species of Labridae, 4 species of Gobiidae, 4 species of Chaetodontidae, 4 species of Carangidae, 2 species of Belonidae, 2 species of Balistidae, 2 species of Acanthuridae, 2 species of Tetraodontidae, 2 species of Siganidae, 2 species of Ostraciidae, 1 species of Monacanthidae, 1 species of Leiognathidae, 1 species of Atherinidae are the species presented in coral reefs at Kish island.