Berhampur: Researchers at Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, have recorded a new snapper species ‘Lutjanus arakan’ in Indian waters for the first time at Gopalpur in Ganjam district, in a significant contribution to Indian marine fish taxonomy.“The finding was significant as the snappers carry high commercial value as food fish and most of the species are reef-associated inhabitants with vibrant body colour,” said Anil Mohapatra, a senior scientist of the ZSI, which led the study. The details of the new species to the country was published in Zootaxa, an international journal in its latest edition on May 5.During their field study, the researchers had collected one specimen of the species from the fish-landing station at Gopalpur-on-Sea on Nov 8, 2024. During the study, they found that it was discovered from off the coast of Bangladesh, earlier and new to the country.“For accurate species identification, the team conducted integrated taxonomy, morphologically the species distinguished from other snapper by its unique body colouration, featuring a reddish-silver hue with a series of four dark-reddish brown horizontal stripes extending from the head to the posterior,” said Mohapatra, who is also the in-charge of the ZSI’s Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC), Gopalpur.“While the upper body of the snapper is mostly dark brown to blackish, its median fins are dark reddish brown, and its paired fins appear translucent pinkish. The molecular analysis has revealed the species is genetically differentiated from closely related species and aligns with ‘Lutjanus Arakan’,” he said.The discovery would contribute to the field of biodiversity in Bay of Bengal and documenting the marine species found in the southwestern Indo-specific region by the EBRC, ZSI.The other team members are Rajesh Kumar Behera, Swarup Ranjan Mohanty, Smrutirekha Acharya, T K S Thathachari of the EBRC, ZSI, and Bhaskar Behera, Fakir Mohan University, Balasore and Subhrendu Sekhar Mishra, retired scientists of the ZSI have conducted through study on the species before reaching it was new to the country.