Abstract
A deep-sea species of snake eel (family Ophichthidae, subfamily Ophichthinae) Ophichthus mccoskeri sp. nov. is described based on 6 specimens (331–447 mm total length) trawled at 314–363 m depth in Andaman waters, India. This species is differentiated from its deep-water congeners by a combination of characters such as its large eyes, dorsal-fin origin a short distance behind pectoral-fin tip, anal fin black posteriorly, three preopercular pores, maxillary and mandibular teeth ending as triserial, and in a vertebral formula of 20/55/153.
References
Ahl, J.N. (1789) Specimen ichthyologicum de Muraena et Ophichtho, quod venia exp. fac. Med. ups. Praeside Carol. Pet. Thunberg, etc. J. Edman, Upsala, 14 pp.
Asano, H. (1987) A new ophichthid eel, Ophichthus megalops, from the Kumano-nada, Japan. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 34, 135–137.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02912407
Biswas, S., Mishra, S.S., Satpathy, K.K. & Selvanayagam, M. (2010) First record of stargazer snake eel Brachysomophis cirrocheilos (Osteichthyes: Ophichthidae) from India. Marine Biodiversity Records, 3, E85.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267210000795
Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W.N. & Fong, J.D. (2019) Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes: Species by Family/Subfamily. Available from: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/SpeciesByFamily.asp (accessed 12 July 2019)
Hibino, Y., McCosker, J.E. & Tashiro, F. (2019) Four new deepwater Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Japan with a redescription of Ophichthus pallens (Richardson 1848). Ichthyological Research, 66 (2), 289–306.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-018-00677-3
Kaup, J.J. (1856) Ubersicht der Aale. Archiv für Naturgeschichte, 22, 41–77.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.11240
McCosker, J.E. (1979) The snake eels (Pisces, Ophichthidae) of the Hawaiian Islands, with the description of two new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 42, 57–67.
McCosker, J.E. (1999) Pisces Anguilliformes: Deepwater snake eels (Ophichthidae) from the New Caledonia region, Southwest Pacific Ocean. In: Crosnier, A. (Ed.), Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM Vol. 20. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 180, 571–588.
McCosker, J.E. (2002) Notes on Hawaiian snake eels (Pisces: Ophichthidae), with comments on Ophichthus bonaparti. Pacific Science, 56, 23–34.
https://doi.org/10.1353/psc.2002.0005
McCosker, J.E. (2010) Deepwater Indo-Pacific species of the snake-eel genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae), with the description of nine new species. Zootaxa, 2505 (1), 1–39.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2505.1.1
McCosker, J.E., Böhlke, E.B. & Böhlke, J.E. (1989) Family Ophichthidae. In E.B. Böhlke (ed.), Fishes of the Western North Atlantic, Part Nine, Vol. One: Orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes. Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research, 1 (9), 254–412.
McCosker, J.E. & Chen, Y. (2000) A new species of deepwater snake-eel, Ophichthus aphotistos, with comments on Neenchelys retropinna (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Taiwan. Ichthyological Research, 47, 353–357.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02674262
McCosker, J.E. & Ho, H.C. (2015) New species of the snake eels Echelus and Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Taiwan. Zootaxa, 4060 (1), 71–85.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4060.1.11
McCosker, J.E., Ide, S. & Endo, H. (2012) Three new species of ophichthid eels (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Japan. Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Series A, Supplement 6, 1–16.
McCosker, J.E. & Okamoto, M. (2016) Chauligenion camelopardalis, a new genus and species of deepwater snake eel (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from the East China Sea. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 4, 63, 321–328.
McCosker, J.E. & Psomadakis, P.N. (2018) Snake eels of the genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Myanmar (Indian Ocean) with the description of two new species. Zootaxa, 4526 (1), 71–83.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4526.1.5
McCosker, J.E. & Rosenblatt, R.H. (1993) A revision of the snake eel genus Myrichthys (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of a new eastern Pacific species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 48, 153–169.
Mohapatra, A., Ray, D., Mohanty, S.R. & Mishra, S.S. (2018) Ophichthus johnmccoskeri sp. nov.(Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae): a new snake eel from Indian waters, Bay of Bengal. Zootaxa, 4462 (2), 251–256.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4462.2.7
Ray D., Mohapatra, A., Biswas, S., Satpathy, K.K. & Mishra, S.S. (2015) First record of the Evermann’s snake eel, Ophichthus lithinus (Actinopterygii: Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae), from northern Indian Ocean. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 45, 89–93.
https://doi.org/10.3750/AIP2015.45.1.10
Tashiro, F., Hibino, Y. & Imamura, H. (2015) Description of a new species of the genus Neenchelys (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae, Myrophinae) from the eastern Indian Ocean, with comments on the availability of three congeners. Ichthyological Research, 63, 53–58.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-015-0473-8