‘Mermaid’ in Andaman archipelago has Bathinda link

Marine biologists from the Central University of Punjab (CUP) have discovered a new species of marine green algae from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and named the green seaweed Acetabularia jalakanyakae after the goddess of oceans.

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It has been named Acetabularia jalakanyakae.

Jalakanyaka in Sanskrit literally means mermaid and a goddess of oceans. The scientists say they were influenced by the fictional character Little Mermaid in the the fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” by Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson.

The main feature of the newly discovered species is that the plant is made up of one gigantic cell with a nucleus.