NEW EEL SPECIES

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Context

A group of Indian scientists have discovered a new species of eel from among specimens collected from the Kalamukku and Digha Mohana fishing harbours in Kerala and West Bengal respectively.

Details

The newly discovered eel belongs to the Congrid eels group and has been named Ariosoma indicum.
The term Indicum means that it was found in India.
The total length of the new species is 362 millimetres.

Features

The eel has the following features according to the paper:

A greenish-brown body, with faint dark bands on the dorsal portion of the head
Minute dark pigmentation patches on the extremities of the lower jaw
Bicoloured pectoral fin
A short wedge-shaped pointed vomerine teeth patch, with three or four rows in the anterior portion.

Distribution

Ariosoma indicum is possibly distributed along the Indian coast, including the coastal waters of Kerala and West Bengal.
The Ariosoma genus has seven species, including the newly identified eel that have been documented in Indian waters.
Globally, there are 223 species in the genus.
Most of these eels have landed as by-catch in trawl landings.
Most eel groups possess less economic value and sampling of these groups has been rare in Indian waters, Mohapatra noted.

Conservation Status

The new eel species is not listed as ‘Threatened’ or ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.