Living Fossil Fish Discovered in Kerala

In News

In the paddy fields of Kerala, a new bony freshwater fish has been discovered.

In-Detail

• A rare bony water fish has been discovered in the paddy fields of Kerala.
• According to the scientists, this fish has a lineage going back to Gondwanaland.
• It has survived even after parting of the Asian and African continents some 120 million years ago.
• The discovery of this new fish family is done by the researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) Pune, Nirmalagiri College in Kerala, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Natural History Museum in London and Berne, Senckenberg Natural History Collections, Germany.
• The new fish family is named asAenigmachannide.
• The scientific team traced the primitive characteristics by conducting CT Scans and detailed analysis of the specimen.
• The researchers concluded that the fish is a living fossil.
• The researchers said that the discovery is unique as the fish specimen remains primitive in many ways and not displayed any evolutionary characteristics.
• The fish has a long and elongated body and was sighted post sunset.
• This fish was sighted in the paddy fields of Mallapuram district in north Kerala.
• The newly discovered fish family has remained subterranean.
• Its sister species have evolved and thrived in the surface water bodies found in the west, central Africa and Asia regions.
• The aquifers in the state of Kerala have a wealth of relic fauna.
• The subterranean ecosystems are facing threats due to indiscriminate extraction and pollution of groundwater.

Conclusion

This is not the first time in Kerala that new species are discovered in the landscape that has been changed by human beings. Many species of frogs, snakes and amphibians have been discovered in Kerala in human habitations in the recent past.

Adorned with evergreen forests, Kerala is blessed with rich faunal diversity. Further research in the state will surely reveal more new species adding to the species richness of India. But, discoveries such as this in a human habitation is a cause for concern. The threat of human-induced landscape change can threaten the very existence of the species. For policymakers and conservationists, it is thus a huge task to protect these animals from getting extinct.