Description of a new species of the genus Awaous Valenciennes, 1837 (Gobiiformes: Oxudercidae) from the middle stretch of the Mahanadi River, Odisha, India with comments on the Awaous species from India.

A new species of the genus Awaous (Oxudercidae), Awaous motla sp. nov., is described based on eighteen specimens collected from the Mahanadi River near Sonepur, Subarnapur district, and three specimens from the same river near Boudh bridge, Boudh district of Odisha, India. This species is distinct from its congeners by a combination of characteristics: relatively small eyes, its diameter 6.6-8.4 in head length; robust and long snout, 2.0-2.6 in head length; eye diameter 2.7-4.1 in snout length; cephalic sensory pore system interrupted with eight pores; predorsal scales 13-15; longitudinal scale series 55-58; gill rakers 2 + 1 + (6-7) on first gill arch; teeth small, conical and in a single row on the upper jaw and multiserial (2-3) on the lower jaw. This species is also differentiated from some of its congeners in the nucleotide composition of the Cytochrome C Oxidase I (COI) gene by 8.3-13.8% K2P distance and belongs to a separate cluster in the Maximum Likelihood tree analysis. The above finding is also supported by the species delimitation analysis based on Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning (ASAP). The new species holds high commercial value in its locality and needs special conservation attention for sustainable utilisation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.