New bicolour crab species 'Ghatiana Dvivarna' found in Karnataka

The new species has been named 'Ghatiana dvivarna'. The name is based on Sanskrit world Dvi (two) colours (varna) considering the crab is two-coloured.

Karwar (Karnataka):Researchers have found a new species of freshwater crab in the Yallapur area of the Western Ghats region in Karnataka. A team of forest department staff Parasurama Bhajantri, naturalists Gopalakrishna Hegde, Sameerakumar Pati and Tejas Thackeray discovered the new species belonging to the Ghatiana genus of freshwater crabs.

The new species has been named 'Ghatiana dvivarna'. The name is based on Sanskrit world Dvi (two) colours (varna) considering the crab is two-coloured. It is estimated that there are 4,000 species of crabs in the world. Among these, 125 different species of crabs have been identified in India. 13 different species of freshwater crabs have been identified so far in the Ghatiana genus and the newly discovered Ghatiana bicolour is the 14th freshwater crab.

The research team said that Ghatiana crabs are attractive with special colours. The latest one has a white body and dark purple legs. These crabs live mostly in rocks in the highlands of the Western Ghats. They consume small worms and algae. A total of 74 different species of crabs have been identified in the Western Ghats of India, which is famous as a biomedical destination in the world.

But on the auspicious occasion of the 75th independence anniversary, the discovery of the 75th crab in the Western Ghats region has now become more special.