Mumbai, June 26: Tejas Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, an avid wildlife researcher has inscribed one more achievement on his name, and reportedly he has successfully discovered eleven more rare species of crabs in Western Ghats of Maharashtra. According to a news report in the Marathi Samna, Tejas, who was busy researching on rare species of crabs, got his report published in New Zealand's Journal Zootaxa which has given recognition to his discovery. After the research, Maharashtra became the second species-rich state after Kerala.

As per the journal report, currently there are 120 species of freshwater crabs under 35 genera, and two families are found in India. Kerala has 35 species followed by Maharashtra which has 29 species, and Assam with 21 rare species of crab. The Western Ghats of India now includes 17 genera and 58 species of gecarcinucid crabs.

Earlier, Tejas Thackeray along with his research team discovered rare species of crabs which also grabbed the attention of the publications. "To carry the research work Maharashtra forest department provided us with all necessary assistance which includes permission to tour the forest area, instruments required to carry the research work and other," Tejas stated. The state forest researcher Sameer Pati also assisted him for over four years to conduct the work successfully, the reports specify.

Tejas Thackarey also remarked that recognition of this discovery of rare species of crabs has once again necessitated the need for state wildlife conservation department to adopt preventive measures for the preservation of these rare species. He added that he found these rare crabs in forests of  Konkan, Kolhapur, Satara regions of the Western Ghats.

The eleven species name is as follows:

    • Ghatiana botti

    • Ghatiana pulchra

    • Ghatiana rathbunae

    • Gubernatoriana longipes

    • Gubernatoriana marleshwarensis

    • Gubernatoriana wallacei

    • Sahyadriana billyarjuni

    • Sahyadriana pachyphallus

    • Sahyadriana sahyadriensis

    • Sahyadriana tenuiphallus

    • Sahyadriana woodmasoni

As per a news report in the DNA, Tejas Thackeray earlier sought permission from Devendra Fadnavis, state chief minister to collect live samples of crabs from the fresh water for research purposes. As under the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the chief wildlife warden’s consent is necessary for collecting samples of wildlife species and vegetation from protected areas like sanctuaries, forest and other restricted areas.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2018 02:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).