''Typhlosynbranchus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 that are native to

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. It contains two species that were formerly classified in the primarily

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 ...

n genus ''

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 ...

.''

Taxonomy

The genus was originally formed by

Jacques Pellegrin Jacques Pellegrin (12 June 1873 – 12 August 1944) was a French zoology, zoologist. Biography Pellegrin was born in Paris on 12 June 1873. He worked under zoologist Léon Vaillant (chair of reptiles and fishes) at the ''Muséum national d'hi ...

in 1922 for the Liberian swamp eel, but later studies synonymized it with ''Monopterus''. However, a 2020 study found significant divergence between the two taxa and revived the genus for ''M. boueti'' and the recently described ''M. luticolus''.

Species

One of the two species, ''T. boueti'', is primarily found in aquatic environments, while the other (''T. luticolus'') has a

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

lifestyle in inundated soil. * '' Typhlosynbranchus boueti ('' Pellegrin, 1922) (Liberian swamp eel) * '' Typhlosynbranchus luticolus''

Britz Britz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Neukölln. History The village of ''Britzig'' was first mentioned in 1273. It was incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. It is known for being the sit ...

, Doherty-Bone, Kouete, D. Sykes & Gower, 2016 Britz, R., Doherty-Bone, T.M., Kouete, M.T., Sykes, D. & Gower, D.J. (2016)
''Monopterus luticolus'', a new species of swamp eel from Cameroon (Teleostei: Synbranchidae).
''Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 27 (4): 309-323.''

References

Freshwater fish genera Synbranchidae Taxa described in 1922 Taxa named by Jacques Pellegrin Fauna of Central Africa {{Synbranchiformes-stub