Rakthamichthys

Rakthamichthys is a genus of swamp eels that are endemic to India. Three species are known from the Western Ghats and one is known from Northeast India.

Rakthamichthys
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Synbranchiformes
Family: Synbranchidae
Subfamily: Synbranchinae
Genus: Rakthamichthys
Britz, Dahanukar, Standing, Philip, Kumar & Raghavan, 2020
Type species
Monopterus roseni
Species

See text

All species live underground, with one species (R. rongsaw) having a fossorial lifestyle and three species (R. digressus, R. roseni, and R. indicus) being troglobitic in nature. All species display adaptations to this lifestyle, including a bright red coloration and highly reduced eyes.[1]

Taxonomy

All four species were formerly classified in the genus Monopterus until a 2020 study found significant genetic and osteological differences between them and the rest of Monopterus, including unique and highly divergent characteristics in the gill arch skeleton. This led to the species being classified in a new genus Rakthamichthys, with "raktham" meaning "blood-red" in Malayalam, as a reference to their distinctive coloration.[1][2][3][4]

Species

References
  1. "Osteology of 'Monopterus' roseni with the description of Rakthamichthys, new genus, and comments on the generic assignment of the Amphipnous Group species (Teleostei: Synbranchiformes)". Dr. Friedrich Pfeil Publishing. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  2. "Swamp eel: Blood-red subterranean dweller is newest fish genus discovered". phys.org. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  3. "Rakthamichthys rongsaw". cavefishes.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  4. "Taxonomy browser (Rakthamichthys)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  5. Gopi, K.C. (2002). A new synbranchid fish, Monopterus digressus from Kersla, Peninsular India. Rec. zool. Surv. India 100(1-2) : 137-143.
  6. "Monopterus rongsaw, a new species of hypogean swamp eel from the Khasi Hills in Northeast India (Teleostei: Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae) – Pfeil Verlag". pfeil-verlag.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-03-04.
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