Description

A new species of swamp eel was discovered from a well in Mumbai by four scientists namely, Anil Mohapatra, Tejas Thackeray, Praveenraj Jayasimhan, and Annam Pavan Kumar. According to the scientists, the eel is a blind freshwater hypogean and has been named the ‘Rakthamichtys Mumba,’ to pay tribute to the city it was found in.

The newly discovered freshwater bright-pink-colored species is a completely blind subterranean freshwater fish and the first from Maharashtra & the Northern western Ghats. While talking about the achievement, the four victorious scientists called it "the most remarkable discovery to date." They revealed that they collected the hypogean species a few years ago and continued working on it even in the ongoing covid-19 pandemic situation.

As per them, this blind eel has a genetic distance of 21.6 – 22.8% from other known species of Rakthamicthys, which makes it the 5th species from this genus to have originated from India.

According to the scientists, an extensive study about species and habitat systems of the Hypogean and cavernicolus as well as the data derived from them can aid in the formulation of conservation strategies. They also suggested that factors such as endemism level, distribution pattern, and biographic barriers causing speciation should be investigated further. They described the newly discovered species as "surreal," emphasizing that it is a "reminder to always stick to the basics, such as the need to conserve the water table beneath the soil and help keep the aquifer clean" for such creatures.

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