1-foot sea creature with ‘sharp’ teeth found lurking in crevices. It’s a new species
Off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, a 1-foot-long sea creature with “sharp” teeth tucked itself deep into the crevice of a coral reef. Eventually something lured it out — and right into a trap.
Scientists didn’t realize it right away, but they’d just caught a new species.
Researchers decided to study a group of confusing moray eels found in the Indian Ocean, according to a study published July 10 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
Generally, “morays are known for their conspicuous and complex markings,” but some species “have hardly any markings,” the study said. Researchers decided to focus on this latter group, informally referred to as “short brown morays.”
The project began in 1999 but didn’t hit a breakthrough until 2018 when co-author James Dandar got a live eel from Sri Lanka through the aquarium trade.
Researchers kept the live eel in an aquarium and compared it to dozens of similar-looking eels caught in other areas, the study said. Eventually, a pattern emerged.
Brown eels caught near the Arabian Peninsula had unique DNA and subtly different appearances. Researchers soon realized they’d discovered a new species: Gymnothorax arabicus, or the Arabian false brown moray.
%20S.V.%20Bogorodsky.jpg "Gymnothorax arabicus 1-1 (20.5 cm TL, Di Hamri, Socotra, SOC18-87, im SOC1016-18) S.V. Bogorodsky.jpg")
Arabian false brown morays are considered “small,” reaching about 1 foot in length, the study said. They have “stout” bodies, “short” snouts and “sharp” teeth.
A photo shows the new species “plain brown” coloring. Smaller eels have a yellow hue toward the end of their body, but this shrinks as they grow, researchers said.
Arabian false brown morays were found lurking “deep in crevices” of shallow coastal coral reefs and were “very rarely seen at night,” the study said.
Researchers said they named the new species after the Arabian Peninsula where it lives.
So far, Arabian false brown morays have been found off the coast of Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen, the study said.
The new species was identified by its DNA, skeleton, size and other subtle physical features, the study said.
The research team included David Smith, Sergey Bogorodsky, James Dandar and Uwe Zajonz.
This story was originally published July 31, 2024 at 2:11 PM with the headline "1-foot sea creature with ‘sharp’ teeth found lurking in crevices. It’s a new species."
