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Issue: Vol. 4683 No. 1: 7 Oct. 2019
Type: Article
Published: 2019-10-07
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4683.1.8
Page range: 144–150
Abstract views: 199
PDF downloaded: 12

Pangio bhujia, a new, peculiar species of miniature subterranean eel loach lacking dorsal and pelvic fins from India (Teleostei: Cobitidae)

School of Ocean Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi, India
Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
Malabar Awareness and Rescue Centre for Wildlife (MARC), Kannur, India
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India
Department of Fisheries Resource Management & Centre for Aquatic Resource Management and Conservation (CARMAC), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi, India
Pisces aquifers freshwater fishes hypogean Kerala Western Ghats

Abstract

A unique, new species of eel loach, Pangio bhujia, is described from Kerala, India. It is the first species of Pangio to be described from subterranean waters. It possesses several unusual characters including absence of both dorsal and pelvic fins, the presence of only 3 pectoral-fin rays, 6 anal-fin rays and a unique count of 38 precaudal + 24 caudal vertebrae.

 

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