Aenigmachanna Britz, Anoop, Dahanukar, and Raghavan 2019
- Dataset
- The subterranean Aenigmachanna gollum, a new genus and species of snakehead (Teleostei: Channidae) from Kerala, South India
- Rank
- GENUS
- Published in
- Britz, Ralf, Anoop, V. K., Dahanukar, Neelesh, Raghavan, Rajeev (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
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Chordata
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Perciformes
- family
- Channidae
- genus
- Aenigmachanna
diagnosis
Diagnosis. Distinguished from Channa and Parachanna by the following characters, which are unique among channids: a very slender (maximum body depth only 11.1 – 11.3 % SL), eel-like body (head length only 20.8 – 21.6 % SL), large mouth (jaw length 60.4 – 61.1 % HL), 43 – 44 anal-fin rays, absence of a body lateral line with pored scales, 83 – 85 scales in a lateral series, colour pattern and absence of buoyancy. It is further distinguished from other channids by the following combination of characters: 64 vertebrae, 56 – 57 dorsal-fin rays, and the absence of pelvic fins.
etymology
Etymology. Derived from the Latin word aenigma, enigma, and Channa, the genus name of Asian snakeheads. Gender feminine.
materials_examined
Type species: Aenigmachanna gollum