Guwahati: A team of researchers has rediscovered two Arunachal Pradesh, more than a hundred years after they were last recorded.
The team spotted the swamp eel in Siang Valley in 2022, marking the species’ first confirmed sighting since the Abor Expedition of 1911–1912, according to The Arunachal Times.
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Their findings appeared in the recent issue of Zootaxa. Sharing the news on social media, Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein expressed his excitement and highlighted the eel’s unique ability to breathe air and its limited habitat range in the region.
Researchers also confirmed the presence of the rare velvet worm in the areas of Kallek and Yingku. First documented in 1913, the species re-emerged in recent fieldwork, and its rediscovery has been published in the Journal of Natural History.
Beyond these rediscoveries, researchers have identified several new species across various biological groups in Arunachal Pradesh. In East Siang Valley, they recorded two rare plant species, Strobilanthes tubiflora and Tupistra stoliczkana, in 2020.
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From 2015 to 2024, scientists discovered a wide array of lifeforms new to science, including freshwater crabs, damselflies, fish, frogs, insects, reptiles, mammals, and plants, particularly concentrated in the Siang Valley and surrounding districts.
In 2021, researchers found two freshwater crab species, Abormon praecalvum and Abormon capillosum, in Upper Siang.
They also discovered several damselflies, such as the golden grisette (Devadatta adii), the shadow damsel (Yunnanosticta siangi), and the bearded bronzeback (Caliphaea sinuofurcata), in Upper Siang and Shi-Yomi districts.
Between 2015 and 2022, scientists documented multiple fish species in the Siang River basin, including Exostoma tenuicaudata, Glyptothorax rupiri, Aborichthys bajpaii, Exostoma dhritiae, Opsarius siangi, and Glyptothorax siangensis.
In the amphibian category, the Adi cascade frog (Amolops adicola) surfaced in Upper Siang in 2021. Between 2021 and 2024, entomologists identified ten new insects, including nine wasps and the striking metallic-blue ant (Paraparatrechina neela).
Herpetologists also discovered a new lizard species, the bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus siangensis), between 2018 and 2022, and documented the Mebo giant flying squirrel (Petaurista siangensis) in 2020, both in East Siang. In 2019, Lower Siang yielded a new snake species, the crying keelback (Hebius lacrima).
Botanists recorded dozens of new plant species across the Siang Valley from 2015 to 2024. These include Impatiens siangensis, Peliosanthes ligniradicis, Henckelia siangensis, Lysionotus chatungii, Begonia pasighatensis, Begonia oyuniae, Impatiens pasighatensis, Begonia kekarmonyingensis, Begonia egamii, Strobilanthes siangensis, Agapetes siangensis, Begonia aborensis, Boeica clarkei, Camelia siangensis, Colocasia adiana, Henckelia pathakii, Meiogyne arunachalensis, Musa siangensis, Psychotria aborensis, Stapletonia rigoense, and Syzygium aborense.
Ornithologists also expanded the known avifauna of Arunachal Pradesh by documenting over 100 bird species previously unrecorded in the state.
These birds, observed primarily in Upper Siang and Siang districts, include the orange-breasted green pigeon, Amur falcon, Sikkim treecreeper, scarlet finch, steppe eagle, kalij pheasant, and great slaty woodpecker, among many others.
This extraordinary biodiversity resurgence underscores Arunachal Pradesh’s status as one of India’s most ecologically rich but under-explored regions.
Researchers continue to highlight the urgent need for conservation and further scientific exploration to protect these rare and endemic species.