Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have made a significant discovery in the Bay of Bengal near the Odisha-West Bengal border. They have identified a previously unknown species of head-shield sea slug and decided to name it after President Droupadi Murmu.
The newly discovered species, named "Melanochlamys Droupadi," was found along the shores of Udaipur and Digha in Odisha and West Bengal. According to Dhriti Banerjee, Director of ZSI, the proposed common name for this species is "Droupadi’s head-shield sea slug," as suggested by one of the scientists involved in the research.
Confirmation of the species was achieved through thorough examination of its morphological, anatomical, and molecular attributes. This small invertebrate, measuring up to a maximum length of 7 mm, exhibits a brownish-black hue with a distinctive ruby red spot located towards its hind end. Internally, it possesses a shell within its body and is identified as a hermaphrodite. Typically found traversing the intertidal zone, these creatures leave distinct crawl marks in the sandy beaches they inhabit.
Their reproduction apparently occurs between November and January, said Prasad Chandra Tudu, Marine Aquarium Regional Centre, ZSI, Digha. Melanochlamys Droupadi is a unique species with a ruby red spot on the left posterior side unlike the other species reported throughout the world, said Tudu, who was leading the study along with S K Sajan of ZSI Kolkata, Smrutirekha Acharya and Anil Mohapatra of the ZSI’s Estuarine Biology Regional Centre, Gopalpur-on-Sea.
Tudu mentioned that the distribution of this species is currently limited to a 3-kilometer stretch along the Digha-Udaipur coast. This study marks the second discovery of its kind in the country, according to him. Over the course of the research, approximately 145 specimens were collected from this stretch between February 2021 and March 2023 for analysis purposes.
Following a comprehensive examination, we conclusively identified the species as new, he elaborated. The findings of the research were published in the prestigious molluscan journal, Mollusca Research, through its online edition.