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The plain helmet gurnard fish Dactyloptena tiltoniEschmeyer (1997) is reported for the first time from the Arabian Sea based on a single female specimen measuring 295 mm standard length. The specimen was collected from bycatch landings in a multi-day shrimp trawl fishery at a depth ranging between 300 and 400 m from Sakthikulangara fishing harbour, Kerala. This species has previously been reported from the Pacific Ocean. The specimen is described, and the new distributional record from the northern Indian Ocean is confirmed. Morphometric and meristic characters, along with previous distributional records from the world ocean, are also provided.