Four new corals recorded from Indian waters
The Hindu
These non-reef building, solitary corals were found in the waters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Scientists have recorded four species of azooxanthellate corals for the first time from Indian waters. These new corals were found from the waters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of plankton. These groups of corals are deep-sea representatives, with the majority of species reporting from between 200 m to 1000 m. Their occurrences are also reported from shallow coastal waters.
Zooxanthellate corals, meanwhile, are restricted to shallow waters.
The details of the new records have been published in Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences in a paper titled Zoogeographic Range Extension of Four Species of Flabellid Corals Under the Genus Truncatoflabellum (Scleractinian: Flabellidae) From Indian Waters.
Tamal Mondal, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) scientist behind these new records, said that all the four groups of corals are from the same family Flabellidae.
Truncatoflabellum crassum (Milne Edwards and Haime, 1848), T. incrustatum (Cairns, 1989), T. aculeatum (Milne Edwards and Haime, 1848), and T. irregulare (Semper, 1872) under the family Flabellidae were previously found from Japan to the Philippines and Australian waters while only T. crassum was reported within the range of Indo-West Pacific distribution including the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf.
Mr. Mondal said that azooxanthellate corals are a group of hard corals and the four new records are not only solitary but have a highly compressed skeletal structure.
“The most studies of hard corals in India have been concentrated on reef-building corals while much is not known about non-reef-building corals. These new records enhance our knowledge about non-reef-building, solitary corals,” he added.
ISKCON Bangladesh denounces arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, demands justice and peaceful coexistence for Sanatanis in Bangladesh.
Maharashtra Congress president criticizes Mahayuti's delay in choosing CM, alleging BJP's control and EVM irregularities in election.
Meta’s WhatsApp took its fight against the European Data Protection Board to Europe’s highest court.
“Writing, in general, is a very solitary process,” says Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director at The New India Foundation (NIF), which, earlier this year, announced the 12th edition of its NIF Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence. While authors, in general, are built for it, it can still get very lonely, says Chopra, pointing out that the fellowship’s community support is as valuable as the monetary benefits it offers. “There is a solid community of NIF fellows, trustees, language experts, jury members, all of whom are incredibly competent,” she says. “They really help make authors feel supported from manuscript to publication, so you never feel like you’re struggling through isolation.”
Manoj Kumar, a talented artist with a disability, paints vibrant murals at Sabarimala, narrating the story of Lord Ayyappa.
Lieutenant General Karanbir Singh Brar assesses operational readiness and administrative effectiveness in Hyderabad and Secunderabad military facilities.
Supreme Court ruling on socialism, secularism
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.
Tamil Nadu rain weather LIVE updates: Follow The Hindu’s live coverage of the Tamil Nadu rains on November 27, 2024
Norway parliament apologises to Sami and other minority groups for assimilation policies
Nearly 50% of Dakshina Kannada’s shoreline has been eroded, the highest among the three coastal districts of Karnataka, according to a study for the period 1990-2018 by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR).