New Delhi: Scientists have discovered two new species of spiny clam shrimp or Spinicadotons in Karnataka and Goa, which are genetically distinct from other known Indian species. This study was part of an effort to document the diversity of “hidden” interspecies in the subcontinent.
The two species, named ‘Leptastheria chalukya’ and ‘Leptastheria gomantakii’, were discovered by a team led by Sameer Padhye, a data analyst at the Ahmednagar-based Biology Life Science LLP, and Mihir Kulkarni, a researcher at the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species. Species at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.
Their study findings were published April 13 in the peer-reviewed journal zootaxa,
Leptastheria chalukya is named after the Chalukya dynasty, which ruled large parts of medieval southern and central India with its capital at Badami in Karnataka, where the specimens were found.
Leptastheria gomantakii is named after Goa, where it was discovered.
Clam shrimps are not clams and are similar to them only because their body is inside a bivalve shell or shell. They are found in temporary freshwater bodies worldwide except in Antarctica. What distinguishes clam shrimp from other crustacean families is the presence of a spine at the tip of their rostrum, which is the beak-like projection of the head.
Read also: Scientists ‘read’ octopus brain for first time, discover distinct patterns of brain activity
nine species in the subcontinent
The two new species are part of the Leptastherididae family – one of the 35 currently known species of clam shrimp.
With this discovery, the number of known species of Leptastheria in the Indian subcontinent is now nine.
“Indian Spinicaudata (spiny clam shrimp) taxonomy still lags behind that of other parts of the world, with little effort to survey the unknown parts of India,” write the researchers.
Their study sought to uncover the rich biodiversity in India, particularly in rock pools – a rudimentary habitat consisting of small pools of seawater that form along the coastline, which are vulnerable to climate change or pollution or overfishing. are vulnerable to threats such as fishing.
As part of their study, the scientists isolated samples of adult clam shrimp from the pool, fixed them in ethanol, and photographed and observed them under a microscope.
It was found that L. Spiny clams are distinguished from other known Indian species of shrimp by the presence of Chalukya spines, the dorsal portion of the head and the terminal portion of the tail.
In the case of L. gomantaki, the scientists found that females of this species exhibited a unique head morphology.
For comparison, the scientists also studied the species Leptastheria nobilis, which was found in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra in 2016. It was noted that this species had highly variable anatomical features.
The researchers suggest that the three species studied are evolutionarily distinct lineages that diverged during the Cretaceous period – the last of three periods of the Mesozoic Era, which ended 66 million years ago and during which Dinosaurs were the dominant group of land animals that lived on the planet.
“The distribution of many ancient Leptastheria lineages in India has been attributed to chronic dispersal (geographic separation of a subpopulation, resulting in a new variety of species) events, trans-oceanic dispersal or even local environmental sorting may have affected the distribution of other crustacean groups,” the study added.
(Editing by Amritansh Arora)