Shiv Sena chief's son discovers new species of crabs in Western Ghats

While the elder brother is making his mark on the political stage the younger Thackeray sibling is finding his feet on a different playing field Tejas Thackeray younger son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray along with two other researchers recently published a scientific paper on new species of freshwater crabs the group discovered in the Western Ghats last JulyThe team discovered Ghatiana splendida in ChakulA team of three researchers including Dr S K Pati Tejas Thackeray and Anil Khaire discovered five new species of freshwater crabs from the Sahyadri range in the Western Ghats A research paper on their discovery was published in the international journal Zootaxa on February 23Gubernatoriana thackerayi was found in Raghuveer Ghat by Tejas Thackeray PicShailesh BhosaleldquoThe Western Ghats of Maharashtra are a biodiversity hotspot in terms of endemic flora and fauna which is evident from the number of new discoveries made in the recent past Finding these resplendent jewels is only the tip of the iceberg a small yet significant reminder of how little we know about a land so rich in biodiversity Discovering and naming a new species is something every wildlife lover wishes to do But behind this glory there are years of hard work sacrifice and dedicationrdquo said Tejas The specimens of the new species of crabs were collected in July 2015 during Tejasrsquos field trip to KonkanGubernatoriana alcocki was found in Vankusawade PicBapurao JadhavA riot of coloursSpeaking about his discoveries Tejas said the most attractive part about these crabs is that they all are uniquely coloured mdash orange metallic blue white and dark orangeGubernatoriana waghi was discovered in Malshej Ghat PicRachit ShahldquoI was in Konkan last monsoon photographing endemic reptiles and amphibians It was here that we managed to discover something new Itrsquos a phenomenal feeling as we have discovered something that was unknown to science Finding these crabs was no mean task The team braved hostile terrain leeches and venomous snakes We hiked through dense forests during monsoon battled condensation to keep our equipment dry and avoided wasp nestsrdquo added TejasThe freshwater crab from Amboli was named Ghatiana atropurpurea PicArjun KamdarHonouring the finderOne of the crabs mdash Gubernatoriana thackerayi mdash has been named after its discoverer Tejas said he only discovered and collected specimens The rest of the team members did the naming and descriptions ldquoI had suggested Gubernatoriana rubra Rubra means red in Latin But it was Dr Pati who described it and decided to name it after me since I was its discovererrdquo Tejas said After finding the new species Tejas contacted Pati crab expert from Zoological Survey of India and it was he who confirmed the crabs were unknown to scienceldquoHe himself had discovered two new species So we decided to collaborate and do the paper together Gubernatorianas are a bit complicated to describe and Irsquom new to taxonomy Even though I had discovered a new species from that genus we decided to leave the description of the other three to Patirdquo Tejas saidTejas is also visiting Aarey Milk Colony to document its biodiversity He said his future plan was explore more forests and document more such unknown species from Maharashtra and the countryEndemic and rareThe newly discovered crabs are endemic and restricted to small pockets in the Ghats While G thackerayi was recorded only in a remote village of the Raghuveer ghats Ghatiana splendid was recorded from Chakul plateau