Confirmed Record of the Two-Faced Toadfish, Bifax Lacinia Greenfield, Mee & Randall, 1994 (Fam. Batrachoididae) From the Southern Oman Coast of the Arabian Sea

The presence of two-faced toadfi sh Bifax lacinia was confi rmed based on a single specimen, 244 mm standard length (SL), caught in the waters of Salalah port, Oman, the Arabian Sea in February 2016. Descriptions, illustrations, meristic and morphometric data are presented. The species is considered as an endemic of the southern Oman waters. Currently, the habitat of B. lacinia in Salalah port is under threat of the destruction due to the planned extension of the port. Research Article


Introduction
Toadfi shes, called frogfi shes in Australia, are mainly marine and brackish water fi sh of the family Batrachoididae, occurring worldwide between about 51°N and 45°S along a coast down to a depth of at least 366 m, often burying in the sand or under rocks or coral heads where they feed on crabs, shrimps, mollusks, sea urchins, and fi shes [1]. Toadfi shes can be easily recognized by their toad-like shape and also well known for their ability to produce sound with their swim bladders [2]. These small to medium-sized fi sh (to 57 cm) [1] are not commercially exploited, but they occur incidentally in artisanal catches and very rarely are used by local fi shermen as a food fi sh. Overall, 23 genera and 84 species of toadfi shes recorded in the world [3] including two species from the waters of Oman: fl at toadfi sh Colletteichthys dussumieri and twofaced toadfi sh Bifax lacinia [4]. Al-Jufaili et al. [5], also listed grunting toadfi sh Allenbatrachus grunniens in Oman fi sh biodiversity, however, they did not state, where the species was obtained in Oman, so these data are not confi rmed.
Two-faced toadfi sh, B. lacinia is known only from the south coast of Oman [6]. During the fi eld work in 1989, J.K.L.
Мее observed three specimens in horizontal crevices at the base of very large limestone boulders in a small bay near Raysut (Salalah port) but attempts to collect the fi sh were Mee & Randall, 1994 [6]. So far, only these seven specimens were studied and deposited in museum collections.
During the last 23 years, this species has not been seen by specialists in the Omani waters and elsewhere. Therefore, we believe that fi nding this rare and endemic fi sh is interesting and worthy of special attention for the study and conservation and preservation of its habitat.

Materials and Methods
A single specimen of Bifax lacinia was collected using a

Results and Description
Body fl attened dorsoventrally, body depth 6.4 times in SL.    Pelvic fi n length 32 13.1 11.9-20.83 Distance between pelvic-fi n bases 34 13. fi ns are fl eshy with 1 spine and invisible and impalpable soft rays, located under the throat. Caudal fi n rounded with 14 rays.

Coloration
Body dorsally grey-brown, shading to white ventrally; front of head and upper lip bright yellow; fi rst and second dorsal, pectoral, anal and caudal fi ns grey-brown at the base matching color of the body, grading into yellow on the tips, pelvic fi ns whitish; the outer part of cephalic fl aps yellow; fl eshy fl aps with a black eye spot on the lower part of anterior side and dark rim behind; dark rim on the fl eshy base of thse pelvic fi n.

Remarks
The meristic and morphometric characters of the specimen agree well with the data given by Greenfi eld et al. [6], Additionally, we counted the number of rays in the caudal fi n and gill rakers, and measured following lengths: total, postorbital, lower jaw, caudal peduncle, prepectoral fi n, prepelvic fi n and preanus as well as the greatest body width and the width of maxilla, which is new data for this species. Some differences with previous data [6] were found only in number of pores in upper lateral line (46 vs. 47-56), orbit diameter, length of fi rst dorsal-fi n base, the greatest body depth and pectoral fi n length.
Toadfi shes have demersal eggs that are laid in a nest that is guarded by the male [7]. After hatching, unlike most other demersal spawners, the larvae do not move up into the water column to disperse, but rather stay attached to the substratum until most of the yolk sac has been absorbed, at a size of about 12 to 16 mm total length [7]. So toadfi shes have limited dispersal ability, because they have demersal eggs and lack pelagic larvae [1].
The species Bifax lacinia has a very limited geographic distribution, because it was found only in the Raysut bay of Salalah port in 1989 and at the same site in our study in 2016, and approximately 120 kilometers toward the northeast near Sadah in 1990 and 1993. Thus, B. lacinia can be considered as an endemic and endangered species of Oman.
It must be stressed here that the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Oman has started implementing the plan of expansion of Salalah port and the project will include the construction of new berths in the place where we collected our specimen. So, it may result in permanent destruction of the habitat of B. lacinia in the Salalah port. It is desirable to conduct a special survey and to estimate abundance and distribution of B. lacinia as well as other endemic species along the coast of Oman.