A new species of marine tardigrade discovered from the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu has been named Batillipes chandrayaani after the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission by researchers at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is credited with the first landing near the south pole of the moon.
Tardigrades are microscopic marvels commonly known as ‘water bears,’ although they have no relation to actual bears.
The names aside, what makes the Cusat discovery special is that it is the third marine tardigrade species to have been scientifically described from the Indian waters and the second from the east coast.
