New record of solitary duckbill eel from Andaman Sea, Eastern Indian Ocean

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii Klein, 1885

Order: Anguilliformes

Family: Nettastomatidae Kaup, 1859

Nettastoma solitarium Castle & Smith, 1981

Collection: Andaman waters, Indian EEZ -12°49.60′N, 93°12.78′E; 400–441m, 17.09.2010 (FORVSS 280, St. 16). High Speed Demersal Trawl-Crustacean Version (HSDT-CV).

Voucher No.: CMLRE 2801617

Description: Body elongate and deepest in middle, and round in cross section; anus positioned anterior to midlength; preanal region 42 % of total length; predorsal and head length 37 % and 39 % of preanal length; dorsal fin originates above gill opening; pectoral fin absent; tail greatly attenuated; head slender, snout elongated; eye well developed; anterior nostril tubular situated near tip of snout, posterior nostril placed in anterodorsal region of eye; upper jaw slightly protruded and lower jaw fits just behind intermaxillary teeth; maxillary and mandibular teeth in bands, the inner teeth larger; intermaxillary tooth patch short, continuous with maxillary teeth; vomerine tooth patch elongate, reaching level of eye, median teeth somewhat enlarged, but not forming a single row, pterygoid teeth absent; rictus extends beyond rear margin of eye; six supraorbital pores, lateral line complete, 43 pores anterior to anus.

Remarks: Present study reports this species from the Andaman Sea extending the biogeographical distribution of this species to tropical waters of the Eastern Indian Ocean.

Distribution: Indo-West Pacific: South China Sea, off the Philippines (Smith et al. 1981; Smith 1989); Japanese waters on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge and near Okinawa Island (Asano 1984; Machida 1984; Paulin et al. 1989; Smith 1999; Nakabo 2000; Shinohara et al. 2005); Hawaiian waters (Mundy 2005; New Zealand waters (Paulin et al. 1989); Mozambique channel, Madagascar (Karrer 1982); Andaman sea, India (Sumod et al.2016)

Distribution map:

Identified by: Sumod K. S.

Publication: Sumod, K. S., Vinu, J., Rajeeshkumar, M. P., Cubelio, S. S., Hashim, M., Sanjeevan, V. N., & Sudhakar, M. (2016). First record of Solitary duckbill eel, Nettastoma solitarium Castle & Smith, 1981 (Anguilliformes: Nettastomatidae) from the Andaman Sea. Marine Biodiversity, 46(4), 929–932.