Morphological and molecular evidences confirm a new species in Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from the east coast of India

Abstract

A new species of snake eel, Ophichthus suryai sp. nov., is discovered based on six specimens collected from three different estuarine ecosystems in Odisha, India. The new species can be distinguished from its closely allied congeners Ophichthus alleni, Ophichthus zophistius, and Ophichthus altipennis, and other members in this genus by having the dorsal fin origin (DFO) just above or slightly anterior to the gill opening, its unique vertebral count (7-8/45-47/142-142), and teeth patterns consisting of multiple rows on both maxilla and mandible. The distinctiveness of this new species is also supported at the molecular level by a strongly supported (bootstrap value >99%) monophyletic grouping of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene sequences of the holotype and one paratype. The current study describes the morphometric and meristic characters and molecular phylogeny of Ophichthus suryai sp. nov.