New snail species discovered in Arunachal cave

Guwahati: An expedition carried out by researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) after 110 years has led to the discovery of a new snail species from a cave in Arunachal Pradesh.

The newly discovered snail species, Alycaeus himalayae, was found in a small limestone cave by the road from Yemsing to Pangi, clinging to the wet cave wall amidst moss and dripping water.

Neelavar Ananthram Aravind of the SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, who was leading the Siang expedition, mentioned that the British undertook an expedition in the Siang valley called the Abor Expedition in response to the killing of a British political officer.