In News
Researchers have discovered a new species of estuarine crab at the mangroves of Parangipettai near the Vellar River estuary in Cuddalore district.
Image Courtesy :TH
About Pseudo Helice annamalai”
- The species has been named Pseudohelice annamalai in recognition of Annamalai University’s 100 years of service in education and research.
- This is the first ever record of this genus, Pseudo Helice, collected from high intertidal areas in front of the Centre of Advanced Studies (CAS) .
- So far, only two species — Pseudo Helice subquadrata and Pseudohelice latreilli — have been confirmed within this genus.
- Description : It is distinguished by dark purple to dark grey colouring, with irregular light brown, yellowish brown, or white patches on the posterior carapace with light brown chelipeds.
- The new species is small and has a maximum width of up to 20 mm.
- This species is not aggressive and can move fast like other intertidal crabs. As many as 17 species of intertidal crabs have been recorded in the same region,
- Habitat : The species inhabits muddy banks of mangroves, and the burrows were located near the pneumatophores of Avicennia mangroves.
- Distribution : The species discovered is distributed around the Indian subcontinent and the eastern Indian Ocean
- The occurrence of Pseudo Helice in India links the distribution gap between the western Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
- The new species provides additional evidence of the geographic isolation of the eastern Indian Ocean for some marine organisms, the researchers said.
Source:TH
