BHUBANESWAR: Researchers of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered a new species of head-shield sea slug from Odisha and West Bengal coast. The new species - Melanochlamys Droupadi has been named after President of India Droupadi Murmu.
The head-shield sea slug with a ruby red spot was found along the three-km stretch from the low inter-tidal zones of Digha (WB) and Udaypur (Odisha) coast. The new species, distinct from others of the same genus, inhabits wet and soft sandy beaches.
Zoologists and researchers of ZSI led by Prasad Chandra Tudu of Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre spotted the species crawling on the inter-tidal zone during a routine study of marine species at Hospital Ghat near Old Digha, about 50 metre away from the centre.
The species was confirmed after thorough examination of morphological, anatomical and molecular characteristics. The head-shield sea slug is a small invertebrate with a maximum length up to seven mm, brownish black in colour with a ruby red spot in the hind end. It is hermaphrodite and has a shell inside the body.
Melanochlamys Droupadi shares its habitat with Melanochlamys bengalensis, which was found along the coast from Digha and Dhamra in 2022, but differs morphologically. It is smaller and has mottled brown to black colouration with a ruby red spot on the posterior shield which is not found in any described species. It has a longer posterior shield (about 61 per cent of body length).
“We had collected 145 specimens from the north-eastern coast of Bay of Bengal. This is the second species of head-shield sea slug from India as most of its congeners are found in temperate regions of the Indo-Pacific Oceanic realm. Their reproduction apparently occurs between November and January,” said Tudu, the lead author of the study.
The sea slugs are rapid hunters and feed upon mobile prey such as other shelled and unshelled sea slugs, roundworms, marine worms and small fishes.
So far, 18 species have been discovered across the globe, including one tropical species from the Gulf of Thailand. The remaining 15 species are from the temperate regions.
Director of ZSI Dhriti Banerjee said the new species Melanochlamys Droupadi has been dedicated to President Droupadi Murmu. The proposed common name is Droupadi’s head-shield sea slug.
Other members of the team comprised Sheikh Sajan, Anil Mohapatra and Smrutirekha Acharya of ZSI’s Kolkata and Gopalpur centres. Their study has been published in a leading molluscan journal of England - Mollusca Research, on Tuesday.