Chaudhuriidae, is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of small

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

-like

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

related to the

swamp eel The swamp eels (also written "swamp-eels") are a family (biology), 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, som ...

s and spiny eels, commonly known as the earthworm eels. The known

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are literally the size and shape of

earthworm An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they we ...

s, thus the family name. While one species, ''Chaudhuria caudata'' was reported from the Inle Lake by

Nelson Annandale Thomas Nelson Annandale Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 June 1876, in Edinburgh – 10 April 1924, in Calcutta) was a British zoology, zoologist, entomologist, anthropology, anthropologist, a ...

in 1918, the others have been only recently reported (since the 1970s), all in the eastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

area, from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Neither the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

nor anal fins have spines, and in ''Nagaichthys'' and ''Pillaia'' they have fused with the

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

; in the other genera, the caudal is small but separate. Their bodies have no scales. The few specimens found to date have been no longer than , and ''Nagaichthys filipes'' is only known to reach . The eyes are small, covered in thick skin. Almost nothing is known of the habits and biology of the earthworm eels. The family name "Chaudhuriidae" comes the genus name ''

Chaudhuria ''Chaudhuria'' is a genus of spineless eels native to Southeast Asia. Species There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * ''Chaudhuria caudata ''Chaudhuria'' is a genus of spineless eels native to Southeast Asia. Species ...

'', expanded to family level. Both names honour B. L. Chaudhuri (d. 1931) for his assistance in writing the initial paper that erected both the genus and family.

References

Chaudhuriidae {{Synbranchiformes-stub