Bangladesh scientist discovers new aquatic species

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NSTU Correspondent
Published : 06:00, May 22, 2018 | Updated : 06:00, May 22, 2018

A Bangladesh oceanologist and his team have discovered two new species of aquatic invertebrates form the south-eastern coastal area of the country.
Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU) teacher and oceanologist Dr Mohammad Belal Hossain has discovered the two invertebrates – Neumania nobiprobia and Arrenums smiti – from the coastal area of Noakhali.
The first one has been named after his university while the second one has been named after an eminent Dutch acarologist Harry Smith.
In 2016, Belal discovered two other species of aquatic invertebrates – Nephtys Bangladeshi and Victoriopisa bruneiensis from the coastal area of Bangladesh and Brunei respectively, attracting global attention.Oceanologist Dr Mohammad Belal Hossain



The two newly discovered red or yellow coloured species are very small and looks like tiny spider. They are called ‘mites’. They generally are 2-3 millimeters long with four pairs of legs for swimming. They generally hang on to floating trees in river or canal water, and live on plant-grains. At larva stage, they live as parasite on other aquatic animals.
Eminent acarologist Dr Vladimir from Montenegro, Professor Tapas Chatterjee from India’s Crescent International School, Professor Dr Andrzej Joel from Poland’s Sachin University and NOPPB student Saiful Islam were the co-researchers in the discovery with Belal.
The two species were discovered through the integrated effort of these five scientists from four countries.
It has been known that after collecting sample mites with his student Saiful from April, 2017 to August 2017, from different ponds, canals and rivers of Noakhali, Belal at first identified the two new species at the laboratory of NOPPB. Later, the findings were sent to Dr Vladimir who also identified the sample mites and reached a concluding decision.
Dr Belal told Bangla Tribune: “For international recognition, a research report was sent to Biotaxa, an internationally recognised journal, in December last year.”
On May 14 last, the research was published under the title of ‘First records of water mites from Bangladesh (Acari, Hydrachnidia) with the description of two new species’.
And finally, on the same day, discovery of the two species got international recognition through their inclusion on ‘Zoobank’, a globally recognized database of different species.”Two new species of aquatic invertebrates - Neumania nobiprobia and Arrenums smiti
“In Bangladesh, lot of researches on land mites including Cimex lectularius (bed bug) and order Araneae (spider) have been carried out, but this is the first time a research on sea mites was conducted. Our coastal and sea boundary is full of biodiversity. No list on biodiversity in the country is yet to prepare due to less number of researches. So far, I have done researching; I did on my personal initiative and financing. Large-scale research on biodiversity in Bangladesh is possible with government’s patronization,” said the oenologist.
Hailed from Cumilla, Dr Belal did his graduation on marine science and fisheries from Chittagong University and masters University of Hull, UK.
Later he completed his PhD from Universiti Brunei Darussalam and post-doctorate degree from Australian Museum Research Institute.

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