The freshwater fish belongs to a never-before-described taxonomic family, making it one of the biggest finds of the last decade.

The Gollum snakehead is unusual among subterranean critters because it has both eyes and a colorful complexion.

A study published last month in the journal Scientific Reports places the Gollum snakehead and another recently described species, the Mahabali snakehead, into a family all their own. A family is the descriptive category above genus and species; for example, humans share a family, Hominidae, with chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, Douglas Main reports for National Geographic.

Close study of the new snakeheads’ genes and anatomy revealed so many differences compared to common snakeheads that researchers placed them in a new family, Aenigmachanna. They also have a Tolkienesque common name: dragon snakeheads.

Dragon snakeheads live in underground reservoirs, only coming to the surface when intense rainfall floods the aquifer and carries them up. Adult fish are about four inches long, with straight, thin bodies, and they propel themselves forward and back by fluttering their bodies like a banner in the wind. Unlike most underground-dwelling critters, dragon snakeheads aren’t pale and eyeless. They’re rusty red-brown and do have eyes.

Dragon snakeheads have a collection of characteristics that set them apart, the new study shows. They have fewer vertebrae, a shortened swim bladder, and can’t breathe air the way common snakeheads can. Genetic analysis showed that dragon snakeheads and Channidae snakeheads last shared ancestor lived 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

In that time, Channidae snakeheads have evolved into about 50 species, but it seems that dragon snakeheads haven’t evolved much at all.

Dragon snakeheads have “a whole series of primitive characteristics,” says Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ichthyologist David Johnson to National Geographic. Those characteristics earn them the title of “living fossils,” adds Johnson, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Pethiygoda suggests to Mongabay India that subterranean fish may have an advantage when disasters like the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs come around. By living in a relatively stable environment, the fish haven’t needed to adapt to survive. But as more people dig wells and water their fields from the limited underground reservoir, the fish may become threatened.

“It is in some ways a freshwater coelacanth,” Pethiygoda tells Mongabay India. “It also signals that new light needs to be shone on the other fishes of Kerala that seem to live in aquifers, such as Horaglanis and Kryptoglanis. Almost nothing is known of the origin of these species or their ecology.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/subterranean-fish-named-gollum-belongs-new-family-180976123/

PermeateFree said:

The freshwater fish belongs to a never-before-described taxonomic family, making it one of the biggest finds of the last decade.

The Gollum snakehead is unusual among subterranean critters because it has both eyes and a colorful complexion.

A study published last month in the journal Scientific Reports places the Gollum snakehead and another recently described species, the Mahabali snakehead, into a family all their own. A family is the descriptive category above genus and species; for example, humans share a family, Hominidae, with chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, Douglas Main reports for National Geographic.

Close study of the new snakeheads’ genes and anatomy revealed so many differences compared to common snakeheads that researchers placed them in a new family, Aenigmachanna. They also have a Tolkienesque common name: dragon snakeheads.

Dragon snakeheads live in underground reservoirs, only coming to the surface when intense rainfall floods the aquifer and carries them up. Adult fish are about four inches long, with straight, thin bodies, and they propel themselves forward and back by fluttering their bodies like a banner in the wind. Unlike most underground-dwelling critters, dragon snakeheads aren’t pale and eyeless. They’re rusty red-brown and do have eyes.

Dragon snakeheads have a collection of characteristics that set them apart, the new study shows. They have fewer vertebrae, a shortened swim bladder, and can’t breathe air the way common snakeheads can. Genetic analysis showed that dragon snakeheads and Channidae snakeheads last shared ancestor lived 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

In that time, Channidae snakeheads have evolved into about 50 species, but it seems that dragon snakeheads haven’t evolved much at all.

Dragon snakeheads have “a whole series of primitive characteristics,” says Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ichthyologist David Johnson to National Geographic. Those characteristics earn them the title of “living fossils,” adds Johnson, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Pethiygoda suggests to Mongabay India that subterranean fish may have an advantage when disasters like the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs come around. By living in a relatively stable environment, the fish haven’t needed to adapt to survive. But as more people dig wells and water their fields from the limited underground reservoir, the fish may become threatened.

“It is in some ways a freshwater coelacanth,” Pethiygoda tells Mongabay India. “It also signals that new light needs to be shone on the other fishes of Kerala that seem to live in aquifers, such as Horaglanis and Kryptoglanis. Almost nothing is known of the origin of these species or their ecology.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/subterranean-fish-named-gollum-belongs-new-family-180976123/

Nice one

dv said:

PermeateFree said:

The freshwater fish belongs to a never-before-described taxonomic family, making it one of the biggest finds of the last decade.

The Gollum snakehead is unusual among subterranean critters because it has both eyes and a colorful complexion.

A study published last month in the journal Scientific Reports places the Gollum snakehead and another recently described species, the Mahabali snakehead, into a family all their own. A family is the descriptive category above genus and species; for example, humans share a family, Hominidae, with chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, Douglas Main reports for National Geographic.

Close study of the new snakeheads’ genes and anatomy revealed so many differences compared to common snakeheads that researchers placed them in a new family, Aenigmachanna. They also have a Tolkienesque common name: dragon snakeheads.

Dragon snakeheads live in underground reservoirs, only coming to the surface when intense rainfall floods the aquifer and carries them up. Adult fish are about four inches long, with straight, thin bodies, and they propel themselves forward and back by fluttering their bodies like a banner in the wind. Unlike most underground-dwelling critters, dragon snakeheads aren’t pale and eyeless. They’re rusty red-brown and do have eyes.

Dragon snakeheads have a collection of characteristics that set them apart, the new study shows. They have fewer vertebrae, a shortened swim bladder, and can’t breathe air the way common snakeheads can. Genetic analysis showed that dragon snakeheads and Channidae snakeheads last shared ancestor lived 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

In that time, Channidae snakeheads have evolved into about 50 species, but it seems that dragon snakeheads haven’t evolved much at all.

Dragon snakeheads have “a whole series of primitive characteristics,” says Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ichthyologist David Johnson to National Geographic. Those characteristics earn them the title of “living fossils,” adds Johnson, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Pethiygoda suggests to Mongabay India that subterranean fish may have an advantage when disasters like the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs come around. By living in a relatively stable environment, the fish haven’t needed to adapt to survive. But as more people dig wells and water their fields from the limited underground reservoir, the fish may become threatened.

“It is in some ways a freshwater coelacanth,” Pethiygoda tells Mongabay India. “It also signals that new light needs to be shone on the other fishes of Kerala that seem to live in aquifers, such as Horaglanis and Kryptoglanis. Almost nothing is known of the origin of these species or their ecology.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/subterranean-fish-named-gollum-belongs-new-family-180976123/

Nice one

There’s more under the sun than we thought.

Bubblecar said:

That’s a good photo.

PermeateFree said:

Bubblecar said:

That’s a good photo.

Probably done in an aquarium.

PermeateFree said:

The freshwater fish belongs to a never-before-described taxonomic family, making it one of the biggest finds of the last decade.

The Gollum snakehead is unusual among subterranean critters because it has both eyes and a colorful complexion.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/subterranean-fish-named-gollum-belongs-new-family-180976123/

> Genetic analysis showed that dragon snakeheads and Channidae snakeheads last shared ancestor lived 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

That’s a long way back.

> It is in some ways a freshwater coelacanth.

Not quite. For three reasons.

• Age – 409 million years ago is a lot longer than 120 million years ago.
• Fossils – Coelacanth is a living fossil.
• Descendants – Coelacanth is ancestor to all quadruped vertebrates.

From wikipedia “Together with colleagues at WHT, Pethiyagoda has been responsible for the discovery and/or description of almost 100 new species of vertebrates from Sri Lanka, including fishes, amphibians and lizards, in addition to 43 species of freshwater crabs. This work also led to the finding that some 19 species of Sri Lankan amphibians have become extinct in the past 130 years, the highest national extinction record in the world.”

What I want to know is what they mean by “underground reservoirs”. If they mean “caves”, why not just say “caves”? If they don’t mean “caves” then what do they mean?

mollwollfumble said:

What I want to know is what they mean by “underground reservoirs”. If they mean “caves”, why not just say “caves”? If they don’t mean “caves” then what do they mean?

The wiki article refers to the “Kerala aquifers” – which appear to be a standard aquifer except the presence of the fish suggest there is more to it.

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

The freshwater fish belongs to a never-before-described taxonomic family, making it one of the biggest finds of the last decade.

The Gollum snakehead is unusual among subterranean critters because it has both eyes and a colorful complexion.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/subterranean-fish-named-gollum-belongs-new-family-180976123/

> Genetic analysis showed that dragon snakeheads and Channidae snakeheads last shared ancestor lived 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

That’s a long way back.

> It is in some ways a freshwater coelacanth.

Not quite. For three reasons.

• Age – 409 million years ago is a lot longer than 120 million years ago.
• Fossils – Coelacanth is a living fossil.
• Descendants – Coelacanth is ancestor to all quadruped vertebrates.

From wikipedia “Together with colleagues at WHT, Pethiyagoda has been responsible for the discovery and/or description of almost 100 new species of vertebrates from Sri Lanka, including fishes, amphibians and lizards, in addition to 43 species of freshwater crabs. This work also led to the finding that some 19 species of Sri Lankan amphibians have become extinct in the past 130 years, the highest national extinction record in the world.”

What I want to know is what they mean by “underground reservoirs”. If they mean “caves”, why not just say “caves”? If they don’t mean “caves” then what do they mean?

You’re wasted here moll.

Dark Orange said:

mollwollfumble said:

What I want to know is what they mean by “underground reservoirs”. If they mean “caves”, why not just say “caves”? If they don’t mean “caves” then what do they mean?

The wiki article refers to the “Kerala aquifers” – which appear to be a standard aquifer except the presence of the fish suggest there is more to it.

I went looking in technical articles for how deep and in what stratum these snakeheads were found. I didn’t find it.

(Trying again)

https://europepmc.org/article/med/31717234
https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4603.2.10

“Aenigmachanna gollum, new genus and species, is described from Kerala, South India. It is the first subterranean species of the family Channidae. It has numerous derived and unique characters, separating it from both the Asian Channa Scopoli and the African Parachanna Teugels Daget. Uniquely among channids, A. gollum has a very slender (maximum body depth only 11.1-11.3% SL), eel-like body (head length 20.8-21.6% SL), large mouth (jaw length 60.4-61.1 % HL), 43-44 anal-fin rays, 83-85 scales in a lateral series, an unusual colour pattern and it lacks pored lateral-line scales on the body and body buoyancy. In addition, it is distinguished by its DNA barcode sequence, which is 15.8-24.2% divergent from other species of the family Channidae. Morphological modifications usually associated with a subterranean life, such as reduction of eyes and enhancement of non-visual senses (taste, smell, mechanosensory systems) are absent in A. gollum.”

The absence of morphological modifications suggest that it has only been down there a relatively short time.

https://sci-hub.st/https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4603.2.10/44803

“The Western Ghats area of Peninsular India”
“Members of the family Channidae are obligatory air-breathers”
“Globally, close to 250 species of fishes are known from subterranean waters”
“The aquifers of the southern Western Ghats harbour a large number of non-cave inhabiting subterranean freshwater fishes”
“Type locality of Aenigmachanna gollum, paddy field at Oorakam, Kerala, India”

No clue in that paper as to what these aquifers really are. Information seems contradictory.
“non-cave” but at the same time “obligatory air-breathers”
“Subterranean” but at the same time “paddy field”.

How was it collected? Ah, wait on. “subterranean animals are only collected opportunistically and are usually encountered when the ubiquitous wells in the laterite areas of Kerala are drained for maintenance”. (So could actually have entered from above ground?)

Can I find: “Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R, Ali, A., Abraham, R. & Shaji, C.P. (2011) The status and distribution of freshwater fishes of the Western Ghats. In: Molur, S., Smith, K.G., Daniel, B.A. & Darwall, W.R.T. (Eds.), The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India. IUCN, Cambridge, pp. 21–48.”

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5c91/5245a382eabc0650d1e37492c57e6c59e70e.pdf

“The Western Ghats is a mountain chain running north–south parallel to the western coast of India. It runs rather continu-ously between 8 and 21°N latitudes, covering a distance of c.1600 km. The narrow coastal strip that separates the hill chain from the Arabian Sea in the west varies in width from 30 to 60 km, the narrowest being between14 and 15°N. Hills are generally of elevations between 600 and1000 m. However, there are higher hills of 1000–2000 m between 8 and 13°N and 18–19°N. Peaks over 2000 m are found only in the Nilgiris, Palanis and Anamalais. The Nilgiris and Palanis are spurs from the main hill chain, which extend the Western Ghats eastwards to c.78°E.From the Western Ghats originate c.38 east-flowing and 27 west-flowing major rivers.”

Nah, that paper is all about rivers.