Important Facts For Prelims
Ophichthus Kailashchandrai: Snake Eel
- 24 Jan 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
A new snake eel species residing in the Bay of Bengal has been discovered by the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) at Gopalpur in Odisha.
- The discovery of the new species suggests that the marine biodiversity of the long Indian coastline is considerably unexplored.
Key Points
- The new marine species has been named as Ophichthus kailashchandrai to honour the vast contributions of Dr Kailash Chandra (Director of Zoological Survey of India) to Indian animal taxonomy.
- It is the eighth species of the Ophichthus genus found on the Indian coast.
- It lives at a depth of around 50 metres in the sea.
- It is 420 mm to 462 mm in length and light brown in colour, with white fins. The outer surface of their bodies is slimy but they are not poisonous.
- Their teeth are moderately elongated, conical and sharp and thus they feed on small fish and crabs.
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.
