New Eel Species Discovered Off Thoothukudi Coast Named in Honor of Tamil Language.

In March 2025, researchers at the Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh, UP)-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR) discovered a new species of Congrid eel off the Thoothukudi coast in Tamil Nadu (TN).

      - The eel belongs to the genus Ariosoma and has been named Tamilicum in honor of the world's oldest language, 'Tamil'.

Main Point :-   (i) Tamilicum possesses unique features, including a dorsal surface of the head with a single whitish band across the anterior eye margin, a long vomerine teeth patch reaching half the length of the maxillary, and 120-129 total vertebrae.

      (ii) This marks the 14th eel species discovered in Indian waters by the NBFGR team.

(iii) The species’ identity was validated by international experts in eel taxonomy, and the findings were published in the international peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.