Batillipes kalami

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Context

• In a tribute to ‘Missile Man’ Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, researchers from the Marine Biology department of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) named a new species of marine tardigrade that they discovered after the former President.

Details

• Named ‘Batillipes kalami’, the new species of tardigrades was found by researchers in the intertidal beach sediments of Mandapam coast, close to Kalam’s birthplace in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.

Tardigrades

• Tardigrades, often referred to as water bears, are eight-legged micro-animals found in the water.
• They are known for extraordinary resilience and survival abilities in extreme environmental conditions.
• They are considered to be one of the toughest organisms on earth, having survived all five mass extinctions, and are also the first known animal to survive in space.
• Ecologically, they act as pioneer species by inhabiting new developing environments, attracting other invertebrates to colonise the space.

About ‘Batillipes kalami’

• The newly-discovered species is approximately 0.17mm long and 0.05mm wide, characterized by four pairs of legs.
• It belongs to the phylum Tardigrada, which comprises more than 1,300 described species.
• Of them, just 17% are marine species.
• Batillipes kalami is the 37th species under the genus Batillipes. Few morphological variations among species and limited number of differential characters make its taxonomy challenging and problematic.
• Though studies on tardigrades are increasing worldwide, the phylum remains unexplored. Studies from India are in the evolving stages.
• This is the second time a marine tardigrade is described from Indian waters – the first time from the east coast.
• In 2021, the same research team discovered a marine tardigrade from the southwest coast and named it ‘Stygarctus keralensis’ after the state of Kerala.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2023/sep/21/cusatresearchers-name-new-marine-tardigrade-species-after-kalam-2616759.html