New species of white & purple crab recognized in Karnataka; pic released

Ghatiana dvivarna, a new species of crab is recognised in Idagundi Range, Yellapur Division.
Ghatiana dvivarna, a new species of crab is recognised in Idagundi Range, Yellapur Division.

Karnataka Forest Department has released a picture of a new species of crab called ‘Ghatiana dvivarna’ that has been recognised in Idagundi Range of Yellapur Division. It’s white and purple in colour. “Ghatiana dvivarna inhabits holes in the laterite rocks on the mountains of central Western Ghats. This is the 75th crab species recognised in Western Ghats,” the department said.

“In India, there are about 125 species of crabs and 13 have been recorded so far under Ghatiana genus. Ghatiana dvivarna is the 14th freshwater crab to have been discovered,” he revealed.
Western Ghats, said to be a biodiversity hotspot in the world, has been home to 75 varieties of crabs, including the new one. “It is a sheer coincidence that the 75th new crab species has been discovered during the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence,” Hegde said. The discovery has been published in Nauplius, the journal of Brazilian Crustacean Society.

Ghatiana dvivarna, a new species of crab is recognised in Idagundi Range, Yellapur Division.
Ghatiana dvivarna, a new species of crab is recognised in Idagundi Range, Yellapur Division.

Image Source: Twitter

The two then started thinking that this could be a new crab species. “We wanted confirmation and contacted Dr Varadagiri, a senior scientist who heads the Reliance Foundation and had earlier worked with the Bombay Natural History Society.

He said this might be a new species and asked us to contact Tejas Thakre of Thakre Foundation and Sameer Kumar Pathi of Zoological Survey of India — a scientist specialising on crabs. Pathi was surprised and personally came down to Yellapur to confirm the finding. He found it and established the finding. He wrote a scientific paper and got it published with our names mentioned as the ones who discovered it,” Hegde said.

Source: The New Indian Express

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