ThePolymita Picta, a Cuban endemic species, was declared this Friday asMollusk of the year 2022, according to an international survey organized by several scientific institutions.
According to the website of theSenckenberg Nature Research Society, as a rewardThe entire genome of the unique animal will be sequenced. The specialized publication considered more than 50 species, of which three types of snail, one mussel and a tusk shell or scaphopod were finalists.
The Cuban polymite, which lives only in the eastern region of the country, orobtained 10,092 votes of the more than 16,000 cast, in recognition of its endemic value. The peculiar competition was also sponsored by the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) and the World Society for Mollusk Research (Unitas Malacologica).
This snail is one of the varieties of the island's fauna that is in danger of extinction, howeverpoaching is frequent to obtain the shell and sell it to tourism, under the indolent gaze of the government.
In the Guantanamo municipalities of Baracoa, Imías and Maisí the main crimes of illegal mollusk trade occur, according to,The official press reported in 2015.
The study of its genetic components will allow the scientific institutions linked to this project to know details aboutthe genetic basis of the animal's striking colors. “So far there are only a few species whose genome has been completely sequenced, and this despite the fact that they form the second largest animal phylum after arthropods,” said Dr. Carola Greve, director of the LOEWE TBG Center laboratory and member of the jury.
Researcher Julia Sigwart, section head of the Department of Malacology at the Senckenberg Research Institute and the Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, expressed her surprise at the broad participation in the survey.
"When we started the contest at the end of 2020, our goal was to raise awareness of mollusks and their enormous biodiversity. Now we are on our way to achieving this. We especially want to thank the researchers and mollusk lovers who have nominated so many special and beautiful species ", he claimed.
In the case of the Cuban painted snail, Dr. Bernardo Reyes Tur, researcher at the Department of Biology and Geography of the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba,was in charge of making the nomination. The competition took place for two and a half weeks.
This is the second time that thePolymita Picta participate in this contest, because alsowas included in the 2021 contestant list and took second place. The mollusk is famous for its colorful shell variation and its enigmatic 'love dart', a device for stabbing partners at the time of mating, with which they transfer 'sex hormones'.
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