ZSI documents another new snake eel species in Odisha

A new snake eel species residing in the Bay of Bengal has been discovered and documented this month (January) by the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) at Gopalpur-on-sea in Odisha. In 2019, two new species of marine eel, Gymnothorax andamanensesis and Gymnothorax smithi were been discovered by this ZSI centre.

About Zoological Survey of India

• The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded in 1916 by Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It is a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, exploration and research of the fauna in the country.
• Its headquarters in Kolkata.

Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC)

• Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) at Gopalpur on-sea Odisha is one of the 16 regional centres of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
• It was established in 1980 under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The main objective of the Centre is to conduct surveys, explorations and research on the faunal diversity of estuaries, backwaters, lagoons and mangrove ecosystem of India.

About the Ophichthus kailashchandrai

• It is the eighth species of the Ophichthus genus found on the Indian coast.
• These new marine species have been namedOphichthus kailashchandrai to honour the vast contributions of Dr Kailash Chandra, Director of ZSI, to Indian animal taxonomy.
• The Ophichthus kailashchandrai lives at a depth of around 50 metres in the sea.
• It feeds on small fish and crabs.

Other key national survey organisations of India

ZSI (zoology) as well as ASI (archaeology), BSI (botany), FSI (forests), FiSI (fisheries), GSI (geology), IIEE (ecology), NIO (oceanography), RGCCI (Census of India) and SI (cartography).

Bay of Bengal

• The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world and is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean.
• It is roughly a triangular bay surrounded mostly by India and the rest of Sri Lanka on the western side, Bangladesh on the north and Burma (Myanmar) on the eastern side and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• The Bay of Bengal has an area of ​​2,172,000 km².
• ancient Hindu texts was called Mahoddhi.
• The Bay of Bengal is spread over an area of ​​2,172,000 km², with the largest river Ganga and its tributaries Padma and Hooghly, Brahmaputra and its tributaries, Jamuna and Meghna, besides rivers like Iravati, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, Cauvery, etc., confluence with the ocean. She does.
• The main ports are Chennai, Chittagong, Kolkata, Mongla, Paradip, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam and Yangon.

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