Red ‘fairy’-like creature found lurking in mountain pond in China. It’s a new species
Perched on a small patch of grass in the middle of a mountain pond in China, scientists searched the shallow water. Scooped up in their nets, they came face to face with the small, “fairy”-like creature — and discovered a new species.
Researchers heard reports of an unknown creature living in the shallow pond of Militang meadow in Potatso National Park, according to a study published July 4 in the journal ZooKeys. Hoping to identify the crustacean, they ventured into the alpine valley in 2012 and again in 2019.
The pond was “small, shallow” and temporary. Surrounding it, “the meadow has a mosaic of wetlands and uplands,” researchers said. “A small river winds through the valley,” and the nearby mountains are covered in forests.
Plunging their nets into the pond water, researchers caught nine red animals, the study said.
They took a closer look and realized it was the crustacean they were searching for — and a new species: Parartemiopsis shangrilaensis, or the Shangri-La fairy shrimp.
Male Shangri-La fairy shrimp have an average size of about 0.3 inches long, a “red” body and “large” eyes, the study said. Females of the species are a little bigger on average and have a “reddish brown” coloring.
Photos show the Shangri-La fairy shrimp swimming on its back. It has reddish eyes and a dark brown-black stripe running the length of its body.
The new species was recognized as distinct based on the shape and texture of its antenna and the shape of its egg-laying genitalia, the study said. DNA analysis is not a standard part of identifying fairy shrimp in China so researchers did not analyze the Shangri-La fairy shrimp’s genes.
Researchers named the new species after the area where it was discovered. Potatso National Park is in Shangri-La County, Yunnan, a southern province that borders Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The county is about 1,830 miles southwest of Shanghai.
The research team included Shu-Sen Shu, Xiao-Yong Chen, D. Christopher Rogers and Laorsri Sanoamuang.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 6:53 AM with the headline "Red ‘fairy’-like creature found lurking in mountain pond in China. It’s a new species."
