Scientists associated with the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources have identified four species of shrimps hitherto not found in Indian waters.
The species were found in the coral reef in the Lakshadweep islands and have since been studied. The findings have been published in Zootaxa , an international peer-reviewed journal.
The species, Hippolytoid shrimps, were found at a depth of 0.5-2 m from the intertidal region of Agatti Island of Lakshadweep group of islands.
T.T. Ajith Kumar, principal scientist at the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resource at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said they discovered the species during exploratory surveys in the reefs.
“We discovered two shrimp species, which are new to science. We named one Periclimenella agatti after the Agatti island where it was found and another as Urocaridella arabianesis , after the Arabian Sea,” Mr. Ajith explained.
The Department of Biotechnology has funded the development of germplasm resource centre for marine ornamental invertebrate, aiming to conserve the biodiversity.
Export business
“Business in ornamental fish is as much as US $500 million across the world but India has no share,” said Mr. Ajith, a native of Nagarcoil, who had worked at Annamalai University till 2014. He is currently working at NBFGR, Kochi.
Kuldeep Kumar Lal, director of ICAR, said the discovery offered an opportunity to develop ornamental fish trade in India besides supporting the livelihood of the coastal and island communities. The NBFGR has since collected three species of marine ornamental shrimps and raised them in captivity.
Since March, 20 women from the island had been trained to raise the shrimps. The aim is to develop hatcheries to enable sustained income for the beneficiaries, who will establish rearing units in their backyard.
The DBT would also create marketing channels and link them directly to enable them sell the captive reared ornamental shrimps and sea anemones, he explained.
