The Liberian swamp eel (''Typhlosynbranchus boueti'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fish in the family

Synbranchidae The swamp eels (also written "swamp-eels") are a family (Synbranchidae) of freshwater eel-like fishes of the tropics and subtropics. Most species are able to breathe air and typically live in marshes, ponds and damp places, sometimes burying them ...

. It is

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. It has also been found in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, with an unconfirmed report from

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. It was first described by

Jacques Pellegrin Jacques Pellegrin (12 June 1873, Paris – 12 August 1944) was a French zoologist. In Paris, he worked under zoologist Léon Vaillant (chair of reptiles and fishes) at the ''Muséum national d'histoire naturelle''. From 1897, Pellegrin served a ...

in 1922 as ''Typhlosynbranchus boueti'', but was later moved to ''

Monopterus ''Monopterus'' is a genus of swamp eels native to Asia. They live in various freshwater habitats and some have a fossorial lifestyle.Britz, R., Doherty-Bone, T.M., Kouete, M.T., Sykes, D. & Gower, D.J. (2016)''Monopterus luticolus'', a new specie ...

''. However, a 2020 study revived ''

Typhlosynbranchus ''Typhlosynbranchus'' is a genus of swamp eels that are native to West and Central Africa. It contains two species that were formerly classified in the primarily Asian genus ''Monopterus.'' Taxonomy The genus was originally formed by Jacques ...

''. Due to the deficiency in data, the species has not been classified with respect to

endangerment Endangerment is a type of crime involving conduct that is wrongful and reckless or wanton, and likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm to another person. There are several kinds of endangerment, each of which is a criminal act that can b ...

Description

Liberian swamp eels, like other eels, have an elongated, naked, cylindrical body. The body of the eel tapers to a point and can be described as whip-like. They grow to be at most in length, with the

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the ...

portion (tail end) of the body being approximately of the overall length of the body. The eyes are atrophied and set deep under the skin making them difficult to discern. The teeth are conical and found affixed to the

jaw The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ...

and

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

. The gills of the fish open only slightly and are ovate in shape. It has four branchiostegal rays which support the gills. It has 140-44 abdominal vertebrae and 39-45 caudal vertebrae, totaling between 179 and 189.

Ecology

The Liberian swamp eel lives in a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

environment. They have been primary found in Liberia near

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

, in a freshwater rivulet normally about two to three km from the sea. While they do not prefer to take shelter in caverns, they are found to make burrows in the mud. These burrows are never found far from the sea. The male of the species is responsible for the construction and guarding of the burrow. They are not known to be a threat to humans, nor are they a target of fishing.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the French ''

Charge d'Affaires Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqua ...

'' in Liberia, where the type was collected,

Georges Théodore Louis Bouët Georges may refer to: Places * Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

(1869-1957) who was also a physician in the French Army, a colonial administrator and a naturalist and who sent

Zoological specimens A zoological specimen is an animal or part of an animal preserved for scientific use. Various uses are: to verify the identity of a (species), to allow study, increase public knowledge of zoology. Zoological specimens are extremely diverse. Exampl ...

to the

Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q371045 Freshwater fish of West Africa Fish described in 1922 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Synbranchidae Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN