New Finless Snake Eel Species ‘Apterichtus Kanniyakumari’ Discovered off Tamil Nadu Coast.

In September 2025, researchers from the Centre for Peninsular Aquatic Genetic Resources (PAGR), Kochi, a regional centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR), discovered a new species of finless snake eel off the Colachel coast in Kanniyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. This discovery brings the total number of eel species reported from the Indian coast to 16.

      - The newly discovered eel species has been named Apterichtus Kanniyakumari to honour the cultural, linguistic, historical, and geographical significance of the Kanniyakumari district.

      - Apterichtus Kanniyakumari belongs to the Apterichtus group of finless snake eels, adding a new species to this genus found along the Indian coastline.

      - The discovery has been documented and published in the latest issue of the internationally renowned peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa, making it globally accessible to the scientific community.

Main Point :-   (i) The species exhibits unique features distinguishing it from previously known eel species, including head length of 9.6–9.7% of Total Length (TL), tail length of 1.8–1.9% TL, and body depth at gill openings ranging from 42.1–54.8% of TL.

      (ii) Other notable features include three preopercular and nine supratemporal pores, conical uniserial teeth on jaws and vomers, and a distinctive golden-yellow body colouration, setting it apart from other eel species along the Indian coast.