Research · New Deep-Sea Conger Eel 'Ariosoma cmfriense' Found off Kerala

A New Deep-Sea Conger Eel, Named for India's CMFRI, Surfaces off Kerala

Researchers from the ICAR–Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Kochi have described a new species of deep-water conger eel, *Ariosoma cmfriense*, from the Arabian Sea continental slope off Quilon, Kerala.

The single 255-mm specimen was collected on January 27, 2026, at 300 metres depth by deep-sea bottom trawl during a survey for India's Deep Ocean Mission. Morphology (tooth patterns, pore counts, vertebral radiography) plus mitochondrial COI barcoding — showing 7.07–7.08% divergence from its closest relative *Ariosoma indicum* — confirmed it as a distinct species.

The eel's calling cards: a yellowish-brown body peppered with fine black spots below the lateral line, a plain unpigmented pectoral fin, a dark opercular patch, and 135 total vertebrae. It is the thirteenth *Ariosoma* species known from Indian waters.

The species epithet honours CMFRI itself on its 80th anniversary — a reminder that routine trawl-bycatch sorting, paired with modern genetics, still turns up vertebrates new to science in well-fished seas.

- Source: Research Matters