New species of marine snake-eel from the Arabian Sea

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Anguilliformes

Family: Ophichthidae

Apterichtus nanjilnaduensis Kodeeswaran, Ravinesh, Hibino & Saravanane, 2024

Collection: Southeastern Arabian Sea, west of Colachel, Tamil Nadu, 8.07°N, 76.77°E, 102 m, 03.04.2024, FORVSS 401_st01

Voucher No.: CMLRE IO/SS/ANG/00019

Description: Elongate body with head length 11.0–13.5, tail length 1.8–2.0, body depth 55.4–86.7 in total length; anterior eye margin well beyond tip of lower jaw; 3 preopercular and 3 supratemporal pores; teeth conical, uniserial on jaw; 1 vomerine tooth; body golden reddish to pink when fresh, head darker than body with melanophores, ventral body pale white from anus to just before tail tip, reddish at tip; total vertebrae 140–143, and mean vertebral formula 61–141.

Biological association: None.

Remarks: New species of marine snake-eel from the Arabian Sea

Distribution: Southeastern Arabian Sea, off Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts, India. Depth range: 100–200 m.

Distribution map:

Identified by: Kodeeswaran P.

Publication: Kodeeswaran P, Ravinesh R, Hibino Y, Saravanane N (2024) A new species of finless ophichthid eel genus Apterichtus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from the Arabian Sea. Ichthyological Research.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-024-01005-8