Researchers of the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), functioning under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), have discovered two eel species, one each from the coasts of Gulf of Mannar in Ramanathapuram and Kochi in Kerala.

Environment

Researchers of the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), functioning under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), have discovered two eel species, one each from the coasts of Gulf of Mannar in Ramanathapuram and Kochi in Kerala. The species collected from the Gulf of Mannar has been named 'Ariosoma kannani' (to honour the late Prof L Kannan, Former Director of Marine Biology at Annamalai University and former Vice Chancellor of Thiruvalluvar University). And the species from Kerala coast has been named 'Ariosoma gracile' in accordance with its morphological characters. The discovery of the eels of genus Ariosoma add to the ten eel varieties recently discovered by the national bureau.


      The newly identified eels were found off the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu and off the Kochi coast in Kerala.

      This discovery adds to the growing understanding of marine biodiversity in Indian waters.

      With the new discovery, NBFGR is credited for exploring 12 eel species, 6 each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, in the recent past.

 

     


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