Kolkata: Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), in collaboration with the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and international experts, have discovered a new species of deep-sea skate in the southeastern Arabian Sea.
The discovery is significant as the skate had remained unidentified for more than four decades. Detailed morphological studies and genetic analysis have now established it as a distinct species. The species has been named after ZSI director Dhriti Banerjee, the organisation’s first woman director, in recognition of her contribution to research on India’s biological diversity. The research team, comprising K K Bineesh and Anil Kasinath of ZSI, Akhilesh K V of CMFRI and David A Ebert of the US, has also mapped the Kollam Slope Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Specimens caught incidentally in commercial deep-sea shrimp trawls had earlier been misidentified as Dipturus springeri.