LUCKNOW, Feb. 11 -- Scientists from the Lucknow-based ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR), in Telibagh, have discovered a new species of squat lobster so small that it measures barely 3 millimetres - smaller than a grain of rice - in the coral reef ecosystems of Agatti Island in Lakshadweep.

"The discovery has been documented in the international taxonomy journal Zootaxa by researchers B Sureandiran, PR Divya, UM Naeem, A Sundaramanickam and TT Ajith Kumar, following detailed morphological analysis and taxonomic classification," said Kajal Chakraborty, director, ICAR-NBFGR.

According to the researchers, the newly identified species belongs to the genus Galathea, a group of reef-dwelling anomuran crabs commonly kn...