MADURAI: A new species of ‘Congrid eel’, belonging to the genus Ariosoma, was spotted off the Thoothukudi coast and named ‘Tamilicum’. The name was derived from Tamil, the world’s oldest language.
The identity of the species was validated by world experts in the field of eel taxonomy and published in the internationally renowned peer-reviewed journal, ‘Zootaxa’.
The NBFGR functioning under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), is taking the lead in organising research initiatives to document the aquatic genetic resources of our nation.
The scientists of the institute are working on waterbodies northeast of Lakshadweep. Building on its commitment to exploring the poorly studied fish group of Anguilliformes, the ICAR-NBFGR has made a startling discovery, TT Ajith Kumar, Acting Director of National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow said on Thursday.
The NBFGR researchers along with the scientist from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) conducted an extensive morphological analysis, skeleton radiography and advanced molecular studies combined with species delimitation computational techniques to conclude that the ‘Congrid eel’ specimens from Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu are distinct from other species of the genus Ariosoma.
This new species differs from its known congeners by having the dorsal surface of the head with a single whitish band across the anterior eye margin. Ventral portion of the lower jaw with tiny dark pigmentation patches, forms a dark line along the isthmus. ‘Long vomerine’ teeth patch, reaches half-length of maxillary and possesses 120-129 total vertebrae.
Only a handful of research institutes have so far been dedicated to studying the biodiversity of this less-explored ‘eel group’ in Indian waters. Hence, the NBFGR is focusing more on this group and this is the 14-eel species discovered (new to Science) from Indian coasts by the NBFGR team, he added.
Further, Ajith Kumar said the institute is working with the protein profiling of the newly discovered eel, to recommend for human consumption, based on protein levels and fat contents.