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CMFRI identifies new ‘Vatta’ fish species in Indian waters

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Science & Technology
  • Published
    3rd Feb, 2022

Context

Recently, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has identified a new carangid (Vatta) species from the Indian coast.

About 

  • The fish, Scomberoides pelagicus, belongs to the ‘queen fish’ group and is locally Scomberoides pelagicus known as ‘pola vatta’.
  • The new fish is distinct by deep ovate body, concave dorsal head profile and stout and less numerous gill rakers on the first gill arch compared to the closely related species.
  • There are over 60 species of carangids in the Indian seas and four of them belong to the ‘queen fish’ category. 
    • The newly-described one is the fifth queen fish from the Indian waters.

 Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI)

  • CMFRI is the largest marine fisheries research institute in India.
  • The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute was established by the Government of India in 1947 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and later it joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 1967.
    • ICAR is the largest network of agricultural research and education institutes in the world functioning under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
  • It is a leading tropical marine fisheries research institute in the world, headquartered in Kochi, Kerala.
  • CMFRI has developed a unique method for estimation of fishery catch called the "Stratified Multistage Random Sampling Method''. 
    • With this methodology the Institute is maintaining the National Marine Fisheries Data Centre (NMFDC).

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