A New Species of Freshwater Eel-tailed Catfish of the GenusTandanus(Teleostei: Plotosidae) from the Wet Tropics Region of Eastern Australia

Researchers have identified a new species of freshwater eel-tailed catfish, Tandanus tropicanus, from the Wet Tropics region of northeast Queensland. This discovery brings the total recognized species in the genus Tandanus to three, distinct from the previously known T. tandanus (eastern Australia) and T. bostocki (Western Australia). The new species is distinguished by a combination of meristic and morphometric traits, further supported by genetic analyses that confirm its taxonomic distinctness. The study employed a comprehensive approach, integrating morphological examination with genetic data to validate the discovery.

Welsh, S. A., Jerry, D. R., & Burrows, D. W. (2014). A New Species of Freshwater Eel-tailed Catfish of the GenusTandanus(Teleostei: Plotosidae) from the Wet Tropics Region of Eastern Australia. Copeia, 2014(1), 136–142. https://doi.org/10.1643/ci-13-067