First report of two species of the genus Minous Cuvier, 1829 (Scorpaeniformes: Synanceiidae) from Indian coast, with a key for the identification of Indian species

Only four species of stonefish or stingfish of the genus Minous were known from India till date. The present paper reports range extension of three species to east coast of India, Bay of Bengal. Minous pictus Gunther, 1880 forms first record from Indian Ocean and Minous trachicephalus (Bleeker, 1855), first report from Indian waters. Further, occurrence of M. dempsterae Eschmeyer et al., 1979 is also recorded for the first time from the Bay of Bengal, extending its known distributional range from north-west coast of India to northern Bay of Bengal. A working key for identification of all species of the genus Minous from Indian waters is also provided for easy identification.