Taxonomic redescription and molecular confirmation of Lutjanus rufolineatus (Acanthuriformes: Lutjanidae) from the Andaman Islands, India Author Ps, Fahmeeda Parveen Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Author Venu, Sasidharan Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. & Department of Marine Biology Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Lakeside campus, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi- 682016, Ernakulam, Kerala. Author Eranhottu, Shibin Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Author Ummath, Ameen Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Author Kalita, Samrat Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Author Pv, Mohammed Ramees Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Author Sadaka, Shehin Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Port Blair- 744112, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. text Zootaxa 2025 2025-01-08 5566 2 370 380 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5566.2.7 journal article 307806 10.11646/zootaxa.5566.2.7 aa767a28-963e-4027-92c0-890c0437d405 1175-5326 14703020 53BDF7D1-758B-42B8-B8CF-84C1449C097E

TABLE 4. Comparison of meristic counts of Lutjanus rufolineatus from Andaman waters with the same species and its congeners.

Meristics	Present Study L. rufolineatus (n=6)	L. rufolineatus (Allen 1995)	L. boutton (Allen 1995)	L. dodecacanthoides (Koeda et al. 2014)
Dorsal Spine	XI	XI	X	XII
Dorsal soft rays	13–14	13–14	13–14	12
Anal spine	III	III	III	III
Anal soft rays	8	8	8	8
Caudal fin rays	17	*	*	*
Pectoral fin rays	15–16	16–17	16–17	16
Pelvic spine	I	*	*	I
Pelvic fin rays	5	*	*	5
Lateral line count	47–49	45–48	45–48	48
Scale row above lateral line	8–9	6	6	9 1/2
Scale row below lateral line 16–19		*	*	20
Scale row on Cheek	7–8	8–11	8–11	6
Gill raker upper	6–7	6–7	6–7	6
Gill raker lower	13–14	13–15	13–15	11