Zoom News : Oct 17, 2020, 09:50 AM
Science Desk: In yet another achievement, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's son Tejas and his team have discovered a new fish - the Hiranyakeshi loach - from the picturesque nature-rich Sahyadri region of the Western Ghats. Tejas is the son of Uddhav and Rashmi Thackeray and is the younger brother of Maharashtra's Environment, Tourism and Protocol Minister Aditya Thackeray. Tejas, a naturalist and wildlife photographer, made the announcement in an Instagram post on Friday - earning accolades. The stunning fish - 'Schistura hiranyakeshi sp. nov.' - have been published in 'Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology'. Endemic to its type locality, the 'kund' at the ancient Hiranyakeshi temple, where the mighty Hiranyakeshi river originates. "It's near the quaint town of Amboli, a hotspot of new discoveries across multiple taxas with this fish being the 20th new species, my fourth, to be described from this tiny town in Sindhudurg district since 2005," said Tejas. On naming the new fish species, he said: "We have named this species after its type locality and the epithet 'hiranyakeshi' in Sanskrit also means 'golden hair' alluding to the brilliant colouration seen in adults."Leading the paper is Dr Praveenraj Jayasimhan, a young passionate ichthyologist and Shankar Balasubramanian, an explorer and underwater photographer.