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What is the News?
A group of Indian scientists have discovered a new species of eel named “Ariosoma indicum” from the Kalamukku and Digha Mohana fishing harbours in Kerala and West Bengal respectively.
What is Ariosoma indicum?
Ariosoma Indicum is an eel species that belongs to the Congrid eels group. The term Indicum means that it was found in India.
Note: There are seven species of Ariosoma genus documented in India which includes this newly identified eel. Globally, there are 223 species in this genus.
Distribution: It is possibly distributed along the Indian coast including the coastal waters of Kerala and West Bengal.
Features
It has a greenish-brown body with faint dark bands on the dorsal portion of the head. It also has minute dark pigmentation patches on the extremities of the lower jaw.
Source: This post is based on the article “Scientists discover new eel species from Kerala, Bengal” published in Indian Express on 21st April 2022.