Fishermen baited a trap with fruit and dropped it into a river in southern India. When they hauled in their catch, they found a “large” river creature with “prominent” eyes.

It turned out to be a new species.

Scientists visited a river in Kerala in 2019 to search for black collared catfish with the help of local fishermen, according to a study published Dec. 31 in the peer-reviewed Indian Journal of Fisheries.

During the trip, researchers noticed a few of the “larger” catfish didn’t have the distinctive “collar” of black collared catfish, the study said. Anglers “insisted” the species simply lost its “collar marking as it grows,” but researchers weren’t convinced.

The intrigue lingered, so researchers returned to the river in 2020 and caught a few more of these collar-less catfish. They analyzed the animal’s DNA and quickly realized they’d discovered a new species: Horabagrus obscurus, or the obscure Western Ghats catfish.

Obscure Western Ghats catfish are considered “large,” reaching over 16 inches in length, the study said. They have “slender” bodies, “broad” heads and “prominent” eyes.

Photos show the “greenish-brown” coloring and small black markings of the new species. Its hue varies from lighter and yellowy to darker and brownish. Its fins are brighter than the rest of its body.

Fishermen generally catch the new species during the “low-water season from deep pools,” typically using gillnets or “traps with the fruit of the oil palm as bait,” the study said. Some of the catfish “regurgitated small bivalve shells a few hours after capture.”

Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin word “obscurus,” “meaning dark or cloudy,” because of its coloring. The name also means “cryptic or ambiguous,” a reference to the initial “confusion” over the new species’ identity.

So far, obscure Western Ghats catfish have only been found in a small stretch of the Chalakkudy River in Kerala, the study said. Kerala is a state in southwestern India and a roughly 1,600-mile drive south from New Delhi.

The new species was identified by its coloring, body shape, eye size, skeleton and DNA, the study said.

The research team included Rahul Kumar, Charan Ravi, N. P. Krishnaprasoon and V. S. Basheer.

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