Table 1. Meristic characters of the new record (Macrognathus aral) compared with reference data and spiny eels reported from Bhutan

	M. aral		Macrognathus pancalus	Macrognathus morehensis	Mastacembelus armatus
	Present study	Jayaram (2010)	Gurung & Thoni (2015)	NRDCR & LF (2020)	Gurung & Thoni (2015)
Dorsal fin rays	XIX, 47	XVI–XXIII, 47–48	XXIV–XXVI, 30–42	XI–XVI, 39–51	XXXIII–XXXX, 67–82
Anal fin rays	III, 52	II–III, 44–52	III, 31–46	III, 40–54	III, 67–83
Pectoral fin rays	19	19	17–19	15–20	23
Caudal fin rays	15	15	11–13	11–14	14–17
Rostral plates	28	14–28	Absent	8–11	Devoid