Rakthamichthys anchi : New Species Of Blind and Blood-Red Eel
Scientists have discovered a new species of blind and blood-red eel from two non-descript dug-out wells located in a village in Assam’s Goalpara district and has been given the name Rakthamichthys anchi.
- Rakthamichthys anchi is a new species of phreatobitic synbranchid eel discovered in Assam.
- The name anchi is a Garo word meaning ‘blood’.
- The Rakthamichthys genus of phreatobitic (residing exclusively within the phreatic zone of groundwater aquifers) swamp eels (Synbranchidae) is endemic to India.
- It is now the second swamp eel of the genus to be discovered in the Northeast.
- Its body carries no pigment at all.
- Its blood red colour, which gives the species its name, actually comes from blood vessels showing through its almost transparent skin.
Eels:
- Eels are elongated, slender fish, of which there are over 500 species characterized by elongate wormlike bodies.
- They lack scales, and their dorsal and anal fins run continuously around their tail.
- Eels can be found in oceans across the globe, and many species can be found in freshwater habitats as well.
- Eels are primarily predatory fish with carnivorous diets. Some eel species are cannibalistic. Their diet typically consists of smaller fish, invertebrates, crustaceans etc.
