New Discovery

Ophichthus kailashchandrai, A new species of Snake Eel From India

Ophichthus kailashchandrai is the newest species of snake eel from Shankarpur fishing harbor, West Bengal in India. The common name proposed for this species is Kailash Chandra’s snake eel. The description is based on three collected specimens from the north part of the Bay of Bengal. The new snake eel is about 16.5-18 inches in length. The preserved specimens light brown, with white dorsal, anal and pectoral fins.

Ophichthus kailashchandrai-1
Head Pores of Ophichthus kailashchandrai sp. nov. (SO-supraorbial pores, IO-infraorbital pores, POM-preopercular and mandibular pores, ST-supratemporal pores, LL-lateral line pores) (Mohapatra, Anil; Ray, Dipanjan; Mohanty, Swarup Ranjan; Mishra, Subhrendu Sekhar)

The first specimen was collected on 12 December 2015. Currently, this species is only known from the Bay of Bengal (West Bengal), India. The species is named in the honor of Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director, Zoological Survey of India. Who has given his vast contributions to the Indian animal taxonomy.

Teeth pattern of Ophichthus kailashchandrai (Mohapatra, Anil; Ray, Dipanjan; Mohanty, Swarup Ranjan; Mishra, Subhrendu Sekhar)

In the future, we should expect many more species being discovered from India which is an ideal location for marine life. There is more to the newly described Ophichthus kailashchandrai, if you want to read more about this species. [ZooTaxa]

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Shaan

Like always it's my day one in the hobby. Always been a hobbyist but never knew would dive so deep in the hobby. I too started with a freshwater aquarium. When I first started saltwater aquarium it just grew on me and I knew that had to do more in this hobby. I am a Post-Grad in Business Administration have worked with Coldstar Logistics, Amazon and Jindal's before jumping completely in the ocean. Other than aquarium hobby I have my interests in travel, digital games and consumer web technology.

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