A tiny crustacean discovered from the Kavaratti lagoon in the Lakshadweep islands has now been established as a new genus and a new species. The organism, which belongs to the family Laophontidae within the Copepoda class, is so minuscule that it can be properly studied only with a microscope.
The crustacean has been named Indiaphonte bijoyi, with the generic name Indiaphonte honouring India and the species name bijoyi named after S. Bijoy Nandan, Dean, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) and a former Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University.
The new organism has been scientifically described by Neelima Vasu K., a researcher in the Department of Marine Biology at Cusat, in collaboration with Samuel E. Gómez-Noguera, a copepod taxonomist and Professor at UNAM University, Mexico. The discovery has been highlighted in a paper in the journal Zootaxa.
The newly-described species has a semi-cylindrical, depressed body that is wider in the middle and tapering towards the posterior. It also has antennae-like appendages at the front. The females are slightly larger than the males with a body length ranging from 518 to 772 micrometres. The males have a body length ranging from 508 to 756 micrometres.
