Researchers collected four specimens of a newly discovered species of electric ray from the Bay of Bengal
A total of 17 species of sandperches have been reported from Indian waters so far, although additional surveys will probably reveal further undescribed taxa. Chennai : Researchers from the Marine Biology Regional Centre of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Chennai, have discovered two new species of marine fish (fish that live in saltwater environments, including oceans, seas, and coral reefs): a sandperch and an electric ray. The second discovery is a species of electric ray, found in deep waters off the south-eastern Arabian Sea. The species is also known to be found in the north-eastern Arabian Sea. The team of researchers collected four specimens from a commercial trawler, which was fishing at a depth between 30m and 80m in the Bay of Bengal, off the Chennai coast, Digha in Odisha, Visakhapattanam, and off Kakinada in the Bay of Bengal. Discovery of the new species from the Bay of Bengal demonstrates that the diversity of demersal fish (fish that live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes) of the eastern continental shelf of India remains insufficiently explored.