Indopotamon Alipurduarense

Indopotamon Alipurduarense Latest News

Scientists recently discovered a new species of freshwater crab named Indopotamon alipurduarense beneath the agricultural fields of West Bengal.

About Indopotamon Alipurduarense

• It is a new species of freshwater crab.
• It was discovered in the sub-Himalayan Dooars region of West Bengal.
• It marks only the second species ever recorded in the Indopotamon genus and pushes the total number of known freshwater crab species in India to 183. 
• The crabs were discovered living in remarkably deep burrows, plunging up to 1.5 metres into the muddy soil of local rice fields.
• These highly secretive animals spend the vast majority of the year hidden securely underground. 
• They only emerge from their subterranean homes during the region’s heavy rainy season, making them visible to researchers and locals only between May and August. 
• The crab’s newly assigned scientific name, alipurduarense, is a direct nod to its origins, honouring the Alipurduar district of West Bengal.
• Features:
  • The new crab sports a striking greyish shell bordered with vibrant orange-red edges and claws. 
  • It boasts a visibly deeper and broader shell. 
  • The specialised male reproductive appendages, known as gonopods, are stouter with an abruptly narrowed section and a blunt tip, unlike the sharply pointed organs of its cousins. 
  • Similarly, the female’s reproductive openings (vulvae) are spaced much wider apart and are uniquely covered by a protruding sternal plate.

Source: RM

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