A New Snake Eel Species of Bascanichthys (Ophichthidae) from the Bay of Bengal Supported by Morphology and Mitochondrial Analysis

A new species of the genus Bascanichthys is described herein based on an integrated taxonomic approach, with two specimens collected from the East coast of India, Bay of Bengal. The new species is diagnosed by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin origin before middle of head; head length (HL) 22.3 in total length (TL), predorsal length 2.9 in HL, snout length 11.9 in HL, body depth at gill opening 112.5 in TL, tail length 2.4 in TL; teeth conical and slightly pointed; 4 intermaxillary large teeth arranged in two rows; body bicolored; head slightly darker; snout dusky to dark brown; vertebral formula 2-3/110/197. Molecular analysis proclaimed 15.8–20.1% genetic divergence from the sequences of Bascanichthys scuticaris and Bascanichthys deraniyagalai. This is the second species of Bascanichthys described from Indian waters after a six-decade lapse.