New Butterfly Species Discovered from Upper Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh

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Callerebia dibangensis, was discovered from Upper Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh 
(Image Courtesy: Purnendu Roy)

 

According to a new research study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, a researcher has identified and described a new species of butterfly from Upper Dibang Valley district of the North Eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. The newly identified butterfly has a set of distinctive characteristics which makes it different from its closest relatives, it says. After confirming the identity of the species as a separate one, the researcher has named it after the biodiversity rich Dibang Valley.

Christened as Callerebia dibangensis, the new species joins the league of roughly 11 species and 20 subspecies of closely related butterflies in the Callerebia genus, which are found exclusively in the Himalayan regions of India and China. 

However, the story of establishing theidentity of the new butterfly species Callerebia dibangensis is rather a long one. According to Purnendu Roy, who described C. dibangensis, this Nymphalid butterfly was spotted and collected in 1987, approximately 26 years back, from Mithun Valley in the Upper Dibang valley, Arunachal Pradesh.  But subsequent work on the identification and describing the species was delayed due to personal as well as technical reasons, according to Roy. The specimen is presently deposited at the Natural History Museum, London.

Key features of C. dibangensis

A combination of very distinctive characters like large size; highly rounded wings; striking under hindwing white scales; distinctive under hindwing tornal ocelli (an eye like marking on the posterior corner of the wing); large round orange spot on the anterior corner of the forewing  and a dark brown underground colour distinguishes Callerebia dibangensis from its similar looking relatives in the Callerebia  genus. 

Callerebia dibangensis underside
(Image Courtesy: Purnendu Roy)

The first specimen of the species was collected along the track that leads from Anini to Mipi between the altitudes of 1600–1800 meters, approximately 5–10 km from Anini. According to the study, the winged beauty was spotted at a place with surrounding vegetation of mixed sub-tropical broad-leaf forest.

Unlike the usual practice of baptizing new species with a scientific name and a common name, the author of the study has urged the people of Dibang Valley to give a common name to the new species.

 According to a press note released on the study, the Mishmi weaving of the local people is known to be influenced by butterflies like Northern Jungle Queen. Since the new butterfly species has beautiful white lines on its hind wing, which indeed resembles some patterns of the weaving culture, it may have a local name. 

“It cannot be ruled out that it does not have a local name already. If it does not have a local name, this could be an opportunity for local conservation or community groups to give it a common name to promote the conservation of the Dibang valley forests.”, says the press note.

Overlooked for two decades

The new discovery, however, points out certain realities on our knowledge about the rich biodiversity of our country. The fact that the existence of a new species among butterflies, which are intensively studied by entomologists as well as nature enthusiasts, was over looked for many years is a shocking surprise. According to Roy, the remote nature of Dibang Valley and difficulties in accessing these areas during tough weather can be reasons why very few butterfly surveys have been carried out here. Recently, rare butterfly Empress was rediscovered from the area after a gap of 88 years.

“If in a well-studied group such as butterflies, a new species has been overlooked, then I think it does illustrate that more new species, especially in the less studied fauna will be discovered(from the area). There is certainly a need for more systematic studies so that a greater range of altitudes and seasons are covered”, Roy said in an exclusive email interview with Indian Biodiversity Talks. 

The researcher also thinks that the butterfly can be endemic to the valley due to the specific geographic nature of the place. There is no specific threat to the new species, at present, says Roy. “At the elevation (from which) it was collected, there are no specific threats. The proposed Dibang dam is however a serious threat to the riverine forests at lower elevations as highlighted by the MoEF forest panel which rejected the clearance”, he said.

Cory’s Shearwater spotted in South Asia, off Northern Kerala Coast

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The Northern coast of Kerala is gifting unexpected surprises to birders for the last one week. In a straight row, the state has witnessed five rare species getting reported from here for the first time, - Caspian Plover, Pectoral Sandpiper, Common Swift, Roseate Tern and Cory’s Shearwater, the last one making the first record for the whole of South Asia, according to experts.

Caspian Plover (Image Credit: Dr. Khaleel Chovva/Kerala Birder)	Pectoral Sandpiper (Image Credit: P C Rajeevan/Kerala Birder)

Pectoral Sandpiper, the second record for India

The winged surprises started coming in right from September 19^th, when a group of birders spotted a Pectoral Sandpiper at Madayippara, a hillock in Kannur district of Northern Kerala. This turned into the first report of the bird for the state and the second for India, when the birders consulted ornithologists including Harkirat Singh Sangha, who is the only person in the country to see and report it before, from Harike Wetlands in Punjab.

The next in the line of surprises was the Caspian Plover. The bird came to the delight of a group of birders carrying out a pelagic expedition at the Muzhappilangad beach in the Kannur district on September 21st. Among the 30 odd  pelagic bird species they recorded, two important names were Pectoral Sandpiper and Caspian Plover. Caspian Plover was the first record from the state. The bird, according to sources with MNHS and Kerala Birder who organized the expedition, was earlier reported from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu also.

However, what was in the store was yet more surprising.

Cory's Shearwater spotted in the Northern Kerala Coast. It is the first record of the bird from South Asia
(Image Credit: Jafer Palot & C. Abhinand Image Courtesy: Kerala Birder)

The Cory’s Shearwater shocker

Based on information from locals, the birders including a scientist at the Zoological Survey of India on September 21^st, went to exhume a dead bird which the locals have buried the last day. On closer inspection, it turned out be a Cory’s Shearwater, which made it the first record, not only for India, but for the whole of South Asia.

It was first thought to be a dead specimen of a Streaked Shearwater. “The lack of any white on the face and thick bill with black tip eliminated Streaked & pale morph Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and it became clear that this has to be a Cory's Shearwater”, says the birder team that went to check the bird.

“We thought the identification was a cakewalk; however - it turned out that the two races of Cory's Shearwater (C. d. borealis & C. d. diomedea) are now considered full species (Cory's & Scopoli's Shearwaters) by all authorities and a much better photograph of the underside primaries and biometrics are necessary to ascertain the id.”,  said Kerala Birder sources in their online forum. Later, the measurements and the under wing plumage confirmed it as Cory's C. borealis., they said.

Huw Roberts, an ornithologist, has reportedly confirmed that the bird is regularly seen on the Western coast of Arabian sea in the Persian Gulf. However, it shall be the first record for the South Asia, says birding activists in the state.

Common Swift and Roseate Tern sightings

Roseate Tern (R) off the coast of Neeleswaram
(Image Credit: Raju A K /Kerala Birder)

The rally of first records was just not going to stop with that. While returning to shore after the second day of the pelagic bird survey on September 22^nd, the survey team encountered a group of terns off the coast of Neeleswaram. However, one bird in the group was different from others since it was in breeding plumage, says the birders.

“While we were returning back to the land we had seen a flock of pale terns feeding very near to the coast and initially called out as Common Tern. The Tern in breeding plumage was standing out not only because it was in breeding plumage, but looked extra-ordinarily beautiful for a Common Tern”, says the birders while sharing their experiences in the online forum Kerala Birder. 

Later, close examinations of the photographs revealed that it is the enigmatic Roseate Tern, the fourth in the list of first record for the state within the week.

Common Swift recovered from Neeleswaram
(Image Credit : Praveen J/Jafer Palot/Kerala Birder)

The last in the line was a common Swift, which was recovered some 40 km off Thaikadappuram in an exhausted state. The bird later died of exhaustion, despite the attempts to keep it alive. According to birders, Common Swift is regularly sighted in Maldives, the neighbouring island nation in the Indian Ocean, but makes it a first record for the state.

Thus, the days September 19^th to 26^th have made the most surprising days in the history of bird watching in Kerala. “The one week from 19th - 26th September has been quite fabulous for a narrow strip of coast in N. Kerala - turning up five new species for Kerala. I don’t think this has ever happened in the history of the state.”, says Praveen J, a prominent ornithologist and activist of Kerala Birder, in a note in the online forum.

The specimens of Cory Shearwater and Common Swift are deposited with the Zoological Survey of India repository at Calicut, Kerala.

Lately, pelagic bird surveys in the Kerala coast has been harvesting new species records for the state. An year before , on 30th September 2012, a Pelagic bird survey team near Neeenkdakara harbor recorded Red Necked Phalarope for the first time in Kerala. Just two months before to it, in July 2012, Pelagic bird survey teams have spotted Streaked Shearwater off Kannur coast, another first record for the state. 

New coral species discovered from Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India

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Ctenactis triangularis from Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Image Credit: C Raghunathan

Shedding light to the rich but unexplored marine biodiversity of India, Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India described a new species of coral reef, Ctenactis triangularis from Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. The new species which belongs to the family of mushroom corals, adds a fourth member to the Ctenactis genus of corals.

“The first specimen of the species was collected from Rutland Island from South Andaman by snorkeling and skin-diving", said the scientists. Later another specimen of the same coral was observed at the North Bay in South Andaman in December 2008. Researchers were able to spot the same species again after two years, in 2010, off the coast of Elephant Beach in Havelock Island.

Tamal Mondal and C. Raghunathan , scientists at the Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre of Zoological Survey of India situated at Port Blair have reported and described the identity of the new species.

Distinguishing features of Ctenactis triangularis

According to the ZSI scientists, the newly described species has characteristics which make it different from all the three members of the genus previously reported by other studies.

Ctenactis triangularis
Image Courtesy: JOTT

The discovery which is published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa reveals that three characteristics make the new species different from its closest relatives.

The major feature is the triangular, flat shaped skeleton or corallum which makes it different. According t the study, ‘divisible mouth fossa, spinulose costal spines and cylindrical septal teeth’ also make it distinguished from other members of its genus.

To underscore one of its most visible distinguishing features – its flat triangular skeleton, the scientists have named it as triangularis. “The species has been named after the triangle-shaped arm like coralla, which gives a unique morphological character to distinguish it from other related species”, says the study.

Conservation Status of Ctenactis triangularis

Despite the new discovery, the future of the coral reefs off the coast of Andaman and Nicobar are likely bleaker, points out the study. “Threats, which can be categorized as natural and anthropogenic, to the reef biodiversity, have been encountered for a long time.”, it says.

According to the researchers, the new species belong to Scleractinian corals which are protected under CITES Appendix II which curbs the transnational smuggling of these corals. Moreover, they are also included in the Schedule I of protected organisms of Indian Wildlife Act, 1972.