Aenigmachanna

Aenigmachanna is a genus of fish in the family Channidae. It contains two species, both of which are largely restricted to subterranean habitats in southwestern India, namely in the state of Kerala.

Aenigmachanna
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anabantiformes
Family: Channidae
Genus: Aenigmachanna
Britz, Anoop, Dahanukar and Raghavan, 2019
Species

Both of the species in this genus display a unique array of traits that distinguish them from all other species in the family, such as a much longer and more slender body, numerous scales, a very long anal fin, and a lack of ability to maintain buoyancy. They are unique among cavefish for being the only subterranean snakeheads, as well as being one of the few cave-dwelling members of the large clade Percomorpha. Despite their habitat, they physically display little troglomorphism aside from a slightly reduced pigmentation, indicating that they either colonized the caves relatively recently or that they are subtroglophiles that mostly live underground, but depend on aboveground habitats for some functions. Due to their restricted habitat and unique nature, both are considered relict species.[1][2][3]

Taxonomy

Species

The genus was initially described in early 2019 to serve as a monotypic genus for A. gollum, the first species to be described in the genus. Later in the year, A. mahabali was described as a distinct species, indicating that there were indeed multiple species in the genus.[1][3]

References
  1. Raghavan, Rajeev; Dahanukar, Neelesh; Anoop, V. K.; Britz, Ralf (9 May 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. ISSN 1175-5334.
  2. "New species of subterranean fish named after The Lord of the Rings character". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. Ravi, Charan; Basheer, V. S.; Kumar, Rahul G. (17 July 2019). "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. ISSN 1175-5334.
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