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Issue: Vol. 5722 No. 4: 21 Nov. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-11-21
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5722.4.6
Page range: 555-569
Abstract views: 88
PDF downloaded: 4

A new genus and species of ilyophine eel (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae: Ilyophinae) from the Arabian Sea, western Indian Ocean

Department of Vertebrate Zoology; National Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian Institution; Washington; DC; USA.
Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology; Ministry of Earth Sciences; Government of India; Kochi—682 508; Ernakulam; Kerala; India.
Pisces Teleostei taxonomy Branchenchelys megacephala

Abstract

A new genus and species of ilyophine eel, Branchenchelys megacephala, is described based on five specimens collected in the Arabian Sea, western Indian Ocean. The new genus is distinguished from all other ilyophine genera by its relatively large head with large gill openings and a very large branchial chamber with an increased number of branchiostegal rays and hypertrophied gill filaments.

 

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How to Cite

Tighe, K.A. & Kodeeswaran, P. (2025) A new genus and species of ilyophine eel (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae: Ilyophinae) from the Arabian Sea, western Indian Ocean. Zootaxa, 5722 (4), 555–569. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5722.4.6