Hauling shrimp nets 700 metres down, Kerala's fishers pulled up a species no one had ever named

Deep-sea shrimp boats working the southeastern Arabian Sea off Kerala sometimes pull up more than shrimp. Among the accidental catch, brought up from 400 to 700 metres down, scientists have now identified a ray that is entirely new to science: the Arabian Black Electric Ray (Tetronarce ramanamurthyi), dark bluish-black on top with a white belly and, like other electric rays, able to generate a charge from organs in its body. A team from the Zoological Survey of India, working with partners in the USA and South Africa, examined nine specimens collected during harbour surveys at Sakthikulangara in Kerala. Body measurements and DNA tests confirmed a separate species — the first of its genus ever confirmed in the northern Indian Ocean. The ray is named for Dr M. V. Ramana Murthy, who leads India's Deep Ocean Mission. Its arrival in the record books is a reminder of how much life the deep Indian Ocean still keeps hidden — and why keeping an eye on what fishing nets bring up matters.