Actinimenes koyas: New Species Of Shrimp
A new species of shrimp has been discovered by scientists from the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR). The newly discovered species has been named Actinimenes koyas.
- NBFGR is focused on the documentation of the country’s aquatic genetic resources and gives special attention to shellfish and fish resources.
- The newly-discovered shrimp species was collected at a depth of 1.0–2.0 m from Agatti Island’s coral atoll.
- Agatti Island forms a part of the Lakshadweep islands.
- The discovery was done by a team comprising A. Dhinakaran, Purushothaman Paramasivam, Kuldeep K. Lal, and T.T. Ajith Kumar
- The newly discovered species has been named ‘Koyas’ to honour the Lakshadweep Island’s local community.
- The Koyas are a part of the island’s important ethnic community and have made a significant contribution to the preservation and development of the society’s heritage.
- In morphological traits, this species is related closely to some other species of shrimp.
- This newly discovered species can be easily distinguished from the other shrimp species by the structural variation in this species’ fourth sternal plate along with a median notch.
