A New Species of blind freshwater eel was discovered by scientists from ZSI, Mumbai.
Highlights:
The Freshwater Blind Eel species was discovered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
This is the primary such discovered species from Maharashtra and Northern western Ghats.
The species was found by four scientists namely, Anil Mohapatra, Tejas Thackeray, Praveenraj Jayasimhan, and Annam Pavan Kumar.
Scientists had collected the hypogean species a couple of years ago. They continued performing on it till now.
The Blind Eel
Species are named Rakthamichtys mumba to pay tribute to the town it had been found in.
Newly discovered freshwater bright-pink-colored species is totally blind and subterranean seafood.
The blind eel has a genetic distance of 21.6 22.8% to other known species of Rakthamicthys genus.
This is the 5th species from Rakthamicthys genus to be found in India.
This discovery is that the most remarkable one so far. Scientists had collected the hypogean species a couple of years ago. They continued working on the discovery, in the ongoing covid-19 pandemic situation.
Rakthamichthys
It is a genus of swamp eels and is endemic to India. Three species are known from the Western Ghats while one is understood from Northeast India. These species live underground.