Gollum snakehead fish
| Gollum snakehead fish | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Aenigmachanna gollum | ||||||||||||
| Britz , Anoop, Dahanukar & Raghavan, 2019 |
The Gollum snakehead fish ( Aenigmachanna gollum ) is a species of fish from the snakehead fish family (Channidae) that occurs in the underground waters of the Western Ghats in the southern Indian state of Kerala . The species was only described in May 2019 and named after Gollum , a character from JRR Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings . Since they in many morphological features and genetically from the Asian snakehead fish genus Channa and African snakehead species parachanna deviates, was the first description , the kind of the kind Aenigmachanna introduced. As early as July 2019, Aenigmachanna mahabali, another species of the genus, which is no longer monotypical, was described.
features
The holotype has a length of 9.2 cm, 43 to 44 fin rays in the anal fin and 83 to 85 scales in a central longitudinal row on the sides of the body. Lateral scales with pores are missing. The fish is unusually slim. His body height is just over 11% of the standard length . The head length is around 21% of the standard length and the length of the mouth is around 60% of the head length. Like all snakehead fish , Aenigmachanna gollum has a long dorsal fin, a large mouth and can breathe air with the help of the suprabranchial organ in the gill space. Compared to other snakehead fish, the gollum snakehead fish is unusually slender, almost eel-like, and therefore has more scales in a central longitudinal row on the sides of the body and a longer anal fin. The species has even lost the ability to float freely in the water column, possibly as an adaptation to the subterranean habitat.
Little is known about the way of life of the Gollum snakehead fish. The other for most of the 250 known subterranean fish typical adjustments as a re-formation of the eyes and the stronger development of non-optical senses like touch, Sensory organs or sense of smell are absent in Aenigmachanna gollum . Only the pigmentation is somewhat reduced compared to snakehead fish that live in surface waters. This is explained by the fact that the species either lives in a transition zone between surface and subsurface waters or has only colonized its subterranean habitat a relatively short time ago.
supporting documents
- ↑ Ralf Britz: The enigmatic Gollumschlangenkopf - one of the most spectacular fish discoveries in recent years? in Amazonas - Freshwater Aquaristik-Fachmagayin, No. 85 August / September 2019
- ↑ Ravi, Charan; Basheer, VS; Kumar, Rahul G. (2019-07-17). Aenigmachanna mahabali , a new species of troglophilic snakehead (Pisces: Channidae) from Kerala, India. Zootaxa. 4638 (3): 410-418. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4638.3.6
- ↑ a b Ralf Britz, VK Anoop, Neelesh Dahanukar and Rajeev Raghavan. 2019. The Subterranean Aenigmachanna gollum , A New Genus and Species of Snakehead (Teleostei: Channidae) from Kerala, South India. Zootaxa. 4603 (2); 377-388. DOI: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4603.2.10