SHILLONG: After the largest cave fish discovered from a cave in Jaintia Hills, scientists have now found a new genus of freshwater crab from a cave in East Khasi Hills.
The discovery was made by a team of experts led by SK Pati of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) along with scientists of National University of Singapore.
During a bio speleological exploration of Krem Lymput cave in Nongjri village of East Khasi Hills in 2019, a team lead by Uttam Saikia of ZSI, Shillong, collected an unusual looking male crab specimen from about 100 metre deep inside the cave.
He contacted experts from ZSI, Pune for identification of the specimen, who confirmed it to be an interesting find.
The specimen was sent to Pune for further examination and in collaboration with crab specialists in National University of Singapore, it was described as a new genus Krishnamon austeniana, named after carcinologist (crab specialist) Krishna Kant Tiwari.
The discovery has been reported in the May 2020 issue of UK-based Journal of Crustacean Biology.
Saikia said in a statement that on the basis of a single female specimen, a crab species, Telphusa austeniana, was originally found from Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya in 1871. However, scientists have long been questioning the validity of this genus, but in the absence of a second specimen, it was not possible to prove it. Upon examining the recently collected specimen by ZSI, Shillong, the experts concluded that it belongs to an entirely new genus of crab.
According to Saikia, the specimen at ZSI is only the second specimen of this rare species from the world and hence immensely significant.
However, the newly described genus is not a truly cave adapted creature as it did not display reduction of eyes or pigmentation.
A few years back, ZSI scientists in collaboration also found a truly cave inhabiting crab Teretamon absarum from a cave in the East Jaintia Hills. The discovery further highlights the immense biological significance of cave systems the state is endowed with, Saikia added.
