New species of Moray eel discovered off Cuddalore coast named after Tamil Nadu

Researchers have discovered a new species of Moray eel at the Mudasalodai fish landing centre off the Cuddalore coast. The species has been named after Tamil Nadu as Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis with common name as Tamil Nadu brown moray.

Researchers have discovered a new species of Moray eel at the Mudasalodai fish landing centre off the Cuddalore coast. The species has been named after Tamil Nadu as Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis with common name as Tamil Nadu brown moray.

The discovery has been published in the latest issue of the international peer-reviewed journal “Zoosystematics and Evolution” by researcher P. Kodeswaran, scientist G. Kantharajan, Principal scientist T.T. Ajith Kumar, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Anil Mohapatra of Estuarine Biology Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India and Uttam Kumar Sarkar of NBFGR.

This is the first ever record of this genus, Gymnothorax, collected through an exploration survey conducted along the coastal waters of Cuddalore district, particularly, Parangipettai and Mudasalodai fish landing centres by Mr. Kodeswaran and Kantharajan.

Four specimens (ranging from 272-487 mm in total length) were collected at a depth of about 25-30 metres from the fishing landing centre at Mudasalodai. The new species are notably different from its known Indian water congeners (organisms of the same genus) by having series of lines of small dark spots present on the head and a single line of black spots on the mid-line of the body.

According to Ajith Kumar, “The researchers conducted extensive morphological analysis, skeleton radiography, and advanced molecular markers combined with species delimitation computational techniques to conclude that this Moray eel specimen collected from Mudasalodai is distinct from other species of the genus Gymnothorax. A few species were sent to the Zoological Survey of India for confirmation.”

About 28 species of Gymnothorax have been documented in Indian waters so far. The species discovered off the Cuddalore coast represents India and increases the total amount of species of Gymnothorax to 29, he said.

The present description is also the first new species of the genus Gymnothorax from the south-eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. The holotype of this new species has also been deposited at the National Fish Museum and repository of ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow.