Pariksha SaathiZSI describes a new deep-sea electric ray, Tetronarce ramanamurthyi (Arabian Black Electric Ray), from the southeastern Arabian Sea
Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered and described a new species of electric ray, Tetronarce ramanamurthyi, from the deep waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea in the northern Indian Ocean, according to a release issued from Kolkata on 27 October 2026. It is the first confirmed record of the genus Tetronarce in the northern Indian Ocean. The research was carried out under a project of the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Deep Ocean Mission on deep-sea chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes) in Indian waters, and the findings have been published in the international taxonomy journal Zootaxa. Described from nine specimens collected off India's southwestern coast, the species - commonly named the Arabian Black Electric Ray - has a uniformly dark bluish-black to dark-brown dorsal colouration, a disc wider than its length and small electric organs, and a total vertebral count of 99 (30 monospondylous and 69 diplospondylous centra). DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial COI and ND2 genes confirmed it as a distinct evolutionary lineage, with COI genetic divergence ranging from 2.2% (compared with T. tokionis) to 6.7% (compared with T. nobiliana). The discovery was led by Dr. K. K. Bineesh and Anil Kasinath of ZSI's Marine Biology Regional Centre (MBRC), Chennai, in collaboration with Dr. David A. Ebert of the Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, USA. The species is named in honour of Dr. M. V. Ramana Murthy, Mission Director of the Deep Ocean Mission, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
On 16 June 2021 the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Ministry of Earth Sciences' proposal for the 'Deep Ocean Mission', to explore the deep ocean for resources and develop deep-sea technologies for the sustainable use of ocean resources. As approved, its estimated cost was Rs 4077 crore for a period of 5 years, to be implemented in phases, with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) as the nodal ministry, and it was planned as a mission-mode project to support the Government's Blue Economy initiatives. Its six major components are: technologies for deep-sea mining and a manned submersible to carry three people to a depth of 6000 metres; ocean climate change advisory services; technological innovations for the exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity, focusing on bio-prospecting of deep-sea flora and fauna including microbes and on the sustainable use of deep-sea bio-resources; deep ocean survey and exploration; energy and freshwater from the ocean; and an Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology. The 2021 release also noted that the United Nations has declared 2021-2030 the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Reference: PIB, 'Cabinet approves Deep Ocean Mission', 16 June 2021
Check yourself: when did the Cabinet approve the Deep Ocean Mission, which is its nodal ministry, and to what depth is the Mission's manned submersible meant to carry three people?
On 16 June 2021 (by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs); the Ministry of Earth Sciences; 6000 metres.
Revision task: from this release, note the new species' scientific and common names, where it was found, why the find is a first, the mission and ministry under which the research was done, the journal and whom the species is named after; from the note, when the Deep Ocean Mission was approved, its cost and duration as approved, its nodal ministry and its six components.
Test yourself
Tetronarce ramanamurthyi, a new species of deep-sea electric ray whose discovery the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) announced on 27 October 2026, was described from the deep waters of which water body?
Show the answer
Answer: Arabian Sea
ZSI scientists discovered and described Tetronarce ramanamurthyi, commonly named the Arabian Black Electric Ray, from the deep waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea in the northern Indian Ocean, from nine specimens collected off India's southwestern coast. It is the first confirmed record of the genus Tetronarce in the northern Indian Ocean; the research was carried out under the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Deep Ocean Mission, and the findings have been published in the journal Zootaxa.
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