Uddhav's 19-year-old son discovered 'Gubernatoriana thackerayi' and four other species near Sawantwadi.

MUMBAI: Uddhav's 19-year-old son discovered 'Gubernatoriana thackerayi' and four other species near Sawantwadi.

The state's most influential political family, the Thackerays, now share their name with a new species of small but feisty crabs discovered near the coastal town of Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district.

The freshwater species, which stands out because of the crabs' unique red-violet shell and saffronred pincer-like claws, have been named 'Gubernatoriana thackerayi'.

But unlike in controversies resulting from the Shiv Sena's insistence for Marathi titles, there's no politics at play here. The bright red arthropods were discovered by 19-year-old Tejas Thackeray, the younger son of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, thus earning him the right to name it.

The second-year arts student, who loves to explore forests and document the flora and fauna, had travelled to the Konkan region last year with a team in search of a rare species of snake. He instead found five new species of freshwater crabs near a waterfall in Raghuvir Ghats, close to Sawantwadi.

Gubernatoriana thackerayi, Ghatiana atropurpurea, Ghatiana splendida, Gubernatoriana alcocki and Gubernatoriana waghi were recently recognised as valid new species, and a research paper was published in Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed international journal for animal taxonomists.

"The newly discovered species are unique because of their resplendent appearances. The Ghatiana splendida, for instance, has a pink carapace (shell)," Tejas said. "The crabs were found in one small patch, but they could be present elsewhere."

There are hundreds of species of crabs across the world. In fact, they live in more varied environments than any other sea animal.

Tejas shares a passion for wildlife photography with his father. Though his elder brother Aditya has plunged into politics, Tejas has no immediate plans — much like a younger Uddhav who entered the political arena late.

Tejas had shared the photographs of the five species with SK Pati of the Zoological Survey of India, who confirmed the discovery. Tejas had originally suggested the name Gubernatoriana rubra for the redcoloured crabs. "But in the final draft of the paper, the name was changed to Gubernatoriana thackerayi. Pati, a veteran in the field, said he had never seen such crabs before and he felt the discovery should bear the finder's name," Tejas said.

His next adventure: a trip to Western Ghats during early monsoon to photograph the wild cats.