Cuba’s Polymita Picta snail was voted “Krill of the Year” title

Accordingly, the striped snail Polymita Picta received the highest number of votes in a contest organized by the LOEWE Center for Biodiversity Gene Decoding (Germany), the World Association for Krill Research and the Association for Nature Research. Senckenberg co-hosted.

The official announcement on March 18 said that this snail, dubbed “the most beautiful snail on Earth” with its colorful shell, received 10,092 out of 16,388 votes from 148 countries, “beat” the sea butterfly Cymbulia peronii with 2,773 votes. In third place in the ranking is the sea worm Teredo Navyis (1,643 votes), followed by the sparrow Fustiaria rubescens (1,115 votes) and the sedimentary snail Telescopium telescopium (765 votes).

As a “reward” to the winning species, the snail genome Polymita Picta will be sequenced to provide information on the genetic basis of the color variations in their shells and to find scientific applications. learn. To date, there are very few molluscs whose genomes have been fully sequenced.

According to Cuba’s Ecured Digital Encyclopedia, Polymita Picta is an endemic terrestrial mollusk that lives in a narrow coastal strip in Eastern Cuba. This species of snail, which is 2-3 cm in size, is facing the risk of extinction due to changes in the environment in its traditional habitat, the introduction and proliferation of alien species, and the changing status of these species. climate reduces precipitation and increases average temperatures along with many other factors such as shellfishing for the purpose of collecting, crafting or trading, regardless of hunting and fishing regulations. preserve this beautiful creature.

Primarily arboreal, feeding on fungi, mosses and lichens on the bark, sensitive to changes in humidity, light, temperature and salinity of the environment, the snail Polymita Picta is difficult to adapt to territories. and is considered a symbol of the fauna of Baracoa, the easternmost point of Cuba.

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