Animal Discoveries 2010 Zoological Survey of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests

    India is a mega-biodiversity country with diverse ecosystems and habitats, harbouring a myriad of fauna and flora. Some of its ecosystems/habitats are endowed with a large number of endemic endangered fauna as well. Today, the information on the diversity of fauna is crucial for addressing issues of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, climate change and sustainable development
    The world over, including in India, the scientific experts on taxonomy are becoming rarer. In spite of this rarity, as a contrast, the diversity of fauna explored and documented from India is increasing every year. The scientists of ZSI have played a significant role in achieving this great and yeoman service to the nation
    The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), established on 1st July 1916, has been serving the nation by providing scientific basis for conservation and sustainable utilization of animal diversity through faunistic survey, taxonomic research, inventorying, documentation, creating the awareness on the rich and diverse faunal wealth of India, its conservation and environmental awareness. ZSI, since its inception, has discovered 4545 new species, subspecies and varieties belonging to diverse groups of animals phyla. ZSI and its 16 Regional Centres have been assigned with the mandatory action plans and programmes for the exploration cum scientific documentation of the faunal resources of the country.
    As part of the scientific documentation of the faunal wealth of India, ZSI is publishing and releasing a document on “Animal Discoveries” every year. With the persistent efforts of ZSI on ecosystem exploration cum documentation of animal wealth of the country, the present publication: “Animal Discoveries 2010” has brought to light 28 discoveries of animal species new to science and 257 new records from India, thus the realized animal diversity known from India reaching up to 91797 species. Besides ZSI actively participates in Antarctica Expedition every year and brings to light the faunal wealth of the remotest geographic region of the world. This year also, the scientists of ZSI have reported 5 new records of nematodes from Antarctica. It is hoped that the publication, “Animal Discoveries 2010”, on new discoveries and records of the animal species from the country would certainly be an inspiration to the young, aspiring and upcoming taxonomists in the country enabling them to embark upon further exploration and documentation efforts on the fauna of the country. Species New to Science from India discovered by ZSI, in 2010:
    The Animal Discoveries 2010 consists of four species of freshwater fishes from Western Ghats, 16 insects from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, six nematodes from West Bengal and two trematode species from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal new to science.
The New records of species from India in 2010 consists of 82 marine fishes from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 80 molluscs (ophistobranchs and nudibranchs) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and three crabs from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Five species of nematodes were also identified as the New records from Priyadarshni Lake, Antarctica by Zoological Survey of India in 2010.
The book was released by our Hon’ble Minister Sri Jairam Ramesh and the UN, Under Secretary General and UNEP Director, Achin Steiner on the 5th June 2011 at the World Environment Day Celebration by the Ministry of Environment and Forests at the Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi.