12-Apr-2018: World’s Smallest fern discovered in Western Ghats
Ophioglossum L. commonly known as “adder’s tongue fern”, has been of great interest due to the highest number of chromosomes in any organism so far known in biological world.
A new species of adder’s tongue fern has been discovered and reported from Western Ghats of India(Gujarat’s Dang district). It is prominently distinct from the other known taxa in Ophioglossaceae family.
Phylogenetic analysis of three chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) unambiguously designate this adder’s tongue fern as the distinct lineage and is sister to the clade containing O. parvifolium and O. nudicaule. Azolla caroliniana – an aquatic fern (average size, 0.5–1.5 cm), is the smallest fern on the earth. But the new discovery discloses a new species of adder’s tongue fern and ranking it among the smallest terrestrial fern in the world, attaining an average size of only 1–1.2 cm.
16-Mar-2018: New Water Strider species found in Nagaland.
Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered a new species of water strider from Nagaland. The species, named Ptilomera nagalanda Jehamalar and Chandra, was found in the river Intanki, Peren district.
Water striders are a group of insects adapted to life on the surface of water, using surface tension to their advantage.
Scientists working on the water striders say that their presence serves as an indicator water of water quality and they are found on water surface.
The presence of black stripes on the dorsal side differentiates this species from other known species of the subgenus Ptilomera. The discovery was published in the science journal Zootaxa.
So far, only five species of water striders under the subgenus Ptilomera were known in India.
These includes Ptilomera agriodes found in peninsular India, Ptilomera assamensis found in northeastern India, Ptilomera laticaudata, northern and northeastern India, Pltilomera occidentalis from Uttarakhand and Ptilomera tigrina found in the Andaman islands.
With the discovery of Ptilomera nagalanda the number of species of water striders belonging to the subgenus has increased to six.
Other than being a good indicator of water quality, water striders also play an important role in the food chain by feeding on mosquito larvae.
There are nearly 100 species of water striders found in India across different water bodies such as open ocean, ponds, pools, lakes, rivers, streams etc.
What is unique about Ptilomera is that they are only found in rocky, fast flowing streams and rivers that are not exposed to a lot of sunlight.
Ptilomera has hair on the middle legs that help the insects resist the strong current of streams.
Water striders have three pairs of legs.
The front legs are relatively shorter than the mid and hind legs and used to catch and hold prey. The striders possess needle-like mouth parts that are used for sucking the juice of prey.
11-Feb-2018: Three new eel species discovered in Bay of Bengal.
Scientists have discovered three new species of eel along the northern Bay of Bengal coast in the past few months. Eels are found mostly at the bottom of rivers and seas. Across the world about 1,000 species of eels have been identified. In India, the number is around 125.
Dark brown with white dots on the dorsal side, Gymnothorax pseudotile was discovered at the Digha coast of the Bay of Bengal. The other two species, Gymnothorax visakhaensis (uniformly brown) and Enchelycore propinqua (reddish brown body mottled with irregular creamy white spots), were discovered from the Visakhapatnam coast of the Bay of Bengal. Enchelycore propinqua is the smallest of them measuring less than a foot.