The first record of morphologically abnormal wild fishes, Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton, 1822) and Cynoglossus cynoglossus (Hamilton, 1822), in the Parangipettai and Nallavadu landing centres along the south-east coast of India were reported. The caudal region of both of the fishes was completely deformed and fused. These abnormalities have been considered as an important indicator of environmentally induced stress to the wild fishes. Hence, the present finding highlights the need for closer monitoring of the marine environment and for the identification of the specific factor that causes these abnormalities.

Occurrence of abnormal rays reported in Indian waters was stumbled upon in the late 19th Century, but it was revised in the early 20th Century and in the past two decades. Reported morphological abnormalities for elasmobranchs in the Indian waters are restricted to pectorals that fail to unite with the sides of the head and fins that developed thick muscular segments. The occurrence of the malformed or adapted specimen Gymnura poecilura suggested reasons for adaptations or malformations.

A case of bicephaly in embryos of the blue shark Prionace glauca in the Mexican Pacific Ocean is described. Malformed female shark embryos were found in pregnant females caught in the Gulf of California (Punta Arenas) and off the western coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico (San Lázaro). Abnormal sharks showed a symmetric bicephaly that could be caused by the high number of embryos found in the uterus of the blue shark, which is the most fecund species of shark in the world. The abnormality probably began during the embryonic development.

This is the first report of morphological abnormalities in the longtail stingray Dasyatis longa in the Gulf of California, Mexico. A young female (36.7 cm disc width) captured in a gill-net had deformed and incomplete pectoral fins, the anterior margins of which were separated from the head. The mouth was also deformed and the eyes and spiracles were situated on the lateral part of the head instead of on the dorsal surface. Some morphometric measurements are included. We conclude that the malformation of its mouth would prevent this stingray from surviving to adulthood.

The clubbed tunicate, Styela clava, normally has two siphons: one oral (incurrent) and one atrial (excurrent). This note describes an abnormal specimen of S. clava with a duplicated atrial siphon collected in November 2007 from an oyster culture tray on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Objective: Nasolabial cysts are rare, nonodontogenic, soft-tissue, developmental cysts occurring inferior to the nasal alar region. They are thought to arise from remnants of the nasolacrimal ducts and they are frequently asymptomatic. We report a rare case of bilateral nasolabial cysts accompanied by bilateral chronic dacryocystitis.

Case report: A 48-year-old woman suffering from bilateral chronic dacryocystitis was referred to our department for endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy. She had undergone external dacryocystorhinostomy on the left side a few years earlier. Physical examination and computed tomography scan revealed nasolabial cysts bilaterally inferior to the nasal alar region. The cysts were removed via a sublabial approach and endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy was performed on the right side. Ten months after surgery, the patient was asymptomatic.

Conclusion: There may be a correlation, due to embryological reasons, between the presence of nasolabial cysts and the presence of chronic dacryocystitis. Both can be corrected surgically, under the same anaesthesia, without visible scar formation.