The Scaly-foot Snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum Chen, Linse, Copley & Rogers, 2015) I described is now one of the “Top 10 Astounding Marine Species of the Decade” selected by WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species)!
Full press release: http://www.lifewatch.be/en/2018.04.23-WoRMS-LifeWatch-press-release
The original description paper is available for free (Open Access): https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/81/3/322/1087877
Background
After 250 years of describing, naming and cataloguing the species we share our planet with, we are still some way off achieving a complete census. However, we now know that at least 242,500 marine species have been described because their names are managed in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) by almost 300 scientists located all over the world. In 2018, to celebrate a decade of WoRMS’ existence, it was decided to compile a list of our top marine species, both for 2017 and for the previous decade in order to highlight the fascinating discoveries of the numerous new marine species being made every year.
All editors of WoRMS were given the opportunity to nominate their favourite marine species from both the last year (2017) and the previous decade (2007-2017). A small committee (including both taxonomists and data managers) was brought together to decide upon the final candidates. The final decisions reflect the immense diversity of animal groups in the marine environment (fish, crustaceans, molluscs, corals, sponges, jellies, worms) and highlight some of the challenges facing the marine environment today (e.g. invasive species, fragile reef ecosystems threatened by climate change, deep-sea environments impacted by resource extraction).
The final candidates also feature particularly astonishing marine creatures, notable for their interest to both science and the public. Each of these marine animals has a story. It may be the among the deepest living or largest fish known, be considered a ‘living fossil’, an invasive species, the most abundant organism in a habitat, or have remained hidden in plain sight, hoodwinking researchers for decades…
