2025/01/14 by Treasa Augustina Areeprambil Xavier, Miriam Paul Sreeram, Sandhya Sukumaran +3 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Identification and Quantification in Food #Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
paper · doi:10.1111/jfb.16055
openalex publication_date 2025/01/14 · openalex created_date 2025/01/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
A new species of eight-gilled hagfish genus Eptatretus (Myxinidae) is described based on five specimens trawled on the upper continental slope off Kollam, Kerala, India, northern Indian Ocean. Eptatretus gopali sp. nov. can be diagnosed by the presence of eight-gill pouches and gill apertures, 10-11 pre-brachial, 7 branchial, 50-55 trunk, 9-10 tail slime pores, 77-82 total pores, 3/2 multicusp teeth pattern, 40-44 total cusps, absence of nasal-sinus papillae, and a light brown body color. Detailed morphological comparisons with all known eight-gilled species of Eptatretus showed that the new species was distinct from all others by having 40-44 total cusps, characteristic body proportions, and the shortest tail length. E. gopali formed a district clade in the phylogenetic tree and exhibited a genetic distance of 3.6%-11.6% in Cytochrome C oxidase I (COI) sequences and 2.0%-4.9% in 16S rRNA sequences between the congeners. An identification key is also provided for the species of Eptatretus from the Indian Ocean.