The discovery marks the first confirmed record of the genus Tetronarce in the northern Indian Ocean, shedding new light on the rich and poorly explored biodiversity of India’s deep-sea ecosystems, the statement said.
The research was carried out under the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Deep Ocean Mission project, which focuses on the taxonomy, distribution, biology, and status of deep-sea chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes) in Indian waters.
The findings have been published in the international taxonomy journal Zootaxa.
Collected off India’s southwestern coast, the new species—commonly named the Arabian Black Electric Ray—is distinguished by several unique physical and genetic traits, the statement said.
The discovery was led by Dr K K Bineesh (Scientist) and Anil Kasinath (Junior Research Fellow) from the Marine Biology Regional Centre (MBRC) of ZSI in Chennai, in collaboration with Dr David A Ebert of the Pacific Shark Research Center at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, USA.
The species has been named Tetronarce Ramanamurthy in honour of Dr M V Ramana Murthy, Mission Director of the Deep Ocean Mission, Ministry of Earth Sciences, recognising his outstanding contributions to marine science, ocean engineering, and marine hazard mitigation in India.
“Deep-sea marine habitats remain among the most difficult ecosystems to study,” noted the research team.
“By integrating classical morphological taxonomy with modern molecular tools, we can uncover hidden marine life, clarify evolutionary relationships and establish critical baselines for ocean conservation,” the statement added.
