Slimy river creature with ‘sharply pointed’ teeth found hiding. It’s a new species
In a murky river of southern Japan, a slimy creature with “pointed” teeth burrowed into the mud. Its shadowy habitat and cryptic looks helped it go largely unnoticed and, when occasionally found, be misidentified.
But, as scientists recently discovered, the “rare” animal turned out to be a new species.
Researchers suspected some “slender” brown eels found in “mangrove swamps” across east Asia were being mistakenly identified as a known species, according to a study published Dec. 9 in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.
To investigate, researchers tracked down several of these eels, analyzed their DNA and compared their appearances to other known species, the study said. The animals were subtly but consistently distinct, and researchers soon realized they’d discovered a new species: Uropterygius hades, or the Hades’ snake moray eel.
Hades’ snake moray eels are considered “small,” reaching about 14 inches in length, the study said. They have “slender” bodies “covered with greenish mucus,” “small” “reddish-brown” eyes and dozens of “sharply pointed” teeth.
Photos show the “uniformly dark brown” coloring of the new species.
Hades’ snake moray eels live in “brackish water” of rivers, mangrove swamps, underwater caves or other similar environments, researchers said. The eels are “highly sensitive to light” and try to “hide when exposed to it,” often using stones or leaves as hiding places or burrowing “tail-first” into mud or sand.
Researchers said they named the new species after “the ancient Greek god of the underworld,” Hades, because its preferred habitat conditions were “reminiscent of the underworld god.”
Hades’ snake moray eels are “a rare case of a widespread moray eel specifically inhabiting estuarine environments,” the study said. So far, the new species has been found in the Pacific Ocean, including in Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.
The new species was identified by its DNA, habitat preference, eye size, body proportions, teeth and other subtle physical features, the study said.
The research team included Wen-Chien Huang, Yusuke Hibino, Rodulf Anthony Balisco and Te-Yu Liao.
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Slimy river creature with ‘sharply pointed’ teeth found hiding. It’s a new species."
