Actinimenes koyas: New Shrimp Species Discovered off Agatti Islands, Lakshadweep.

Why in news?

• Scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) have discovered a new species of shrimp which has been named “Actinimenes koyas” to honour Koyas, the local community on the Lakshadweep islands, Arabian Sea.
• Discovery:
• The new species was collected at a depth of 1.0-2.0 m from the coral atoll of Agatti Island, a part of the Lakshadweep group of islands by a team of scientists.
• The new species was discovered by the team during their work on documenting the aquatic genetic resources with special attention on fish and shell fish resources.

About Actinimenes koyas

• Actinimenes koyas, the new species is closely related to other shrimp species in morphological traits and it is distinguished from the other species by the structural variation in the fourth sternal plate with a median notch.
• The new species is associated with the sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica and this is the 2nd representative of the genus Actinimenes ourii and Horki described from the Arabian sea.