The striped snail Polymita Picta, an endemic species of Cuba, has just been honored as “Mollusion of the Year 2022” after surpassing more than 50 candidates around the world.
Accordingly, the striped snail Polymita Picta received the highest number of votes in the contest organized by the LOEWE Center for Biodiversity Gene Decoding (Germany), the World Mollusc Research Association and the Natural Research Association. course co-organised by Senckenberg.
The official announcement on March 18 said that the snail, known as “the most beautiful snail on Earth” with its colorful shell, received 10,092 out of 16,388 votes from 148 countries. contest, “defeating” the sea butterfly Cymbulia peronii with 2,773 votes. Ranked third in the ranking is the sea worm Teredo navyis (1,643 votes), followed by the sparrow Fustiaria rubescens (1,115 votes) and the sediment snail Telescopium telescopium (765 votes).
As a “reward” for the winning species, the genome of the Polymita Picta snail will be decoded to provide information on the genetic basis of its shell color variations and to search for potential applications. scientific use. To date, there are very few mollusc species whose genomes have been fully decoded.
According to the Ecured Digital Encyclopedia of Cuba, Polymita Picta is an endemic terrestrial mollusk that lives in a narrow coastal strip in Eastern Cuba. This 2-3 cm sized snail is facing the risk of extinction due to environmental changes in traditional habitats, the penetration and proliferation of alien species, and environmental changes. The climate reduces rainfall and increases average temperatures along with many other factors such as shell collection for collection, handicrafts or commercial purposes, despite regulations on hunting and conserve this beautiful creature.
Mainly living on trees, eating fungi, moss and lichen on tree bark, sensitive to changes in humidity, light, temperature and salinity of the environment, Polymita Picta snails have difficulty adapting to different territories. different and is considered a symbol of the fauna of Baracoa, the easternmost point of Cuba.
