New Species of Estuarine Crab

Why in the News?

Recently, Researchers have discovered a new species of estuarine crab in the mangroves of Parangipettai near the Vellar River estuary in Tamil Nadu.

Key Points:

Image Source: The Hindu

About the news Species:

• The species has been named ‘Pseudohelice annamalai’ in recognition of Annamalai University’s 100 years of service in education and research.
• Feature:

• • 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. 

• • It is small and has a maximum width of up to 20 mm.
• Distribution: The species discovered is distributed around the Indian subcontinent and the eastern Indian Ocean.
• Significance: 
  • The occurrence of Pseudohelice in India links the distribution gap between the western Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
  • It provides evidence of the geographic isolation of the eastern Indian Ocean for some marine organisms.