New species of Moray eel discovered off Cuddalore coast named after Tamil Nadu

Researchers have discovered a new species of Moray eel at the Mudasalodai fish landing centre off the Cuddalore coast. Ajith Kumar, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Anil Mohapatra of Estuarine Biology Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India and Uttam Kumar Sarkar of NBFGR. This is the first ever record of this genus, Gymnothorax, collected through an exploration survey conducted along the coastal waters of Cuddalore district, particularly, Parangipettai and Mudasalodai fish landing centres by Mr. Kodeswaran and Kantharajan. According to Ajith Kumar, “The researchers conducted extensive morphological analysis, skeleton radiography, and advanced molecular markers combined with species delimitation computational techniques to conclude that this Moray eel specimen collected from Mudasalodai is distinct from other species of the genus Gymnothorax.