The newly found out species, Brachiomya ducentiunus, crawing on a sea urchin backbone. Credit score: Craig Foster
A brand new find out about sheds gentle at the unexplored variety of galeommatoidean bivalves, a little-known workforce of marine mollusks, from the western coast of South Africa.
The analysis, led via Paul Valentich-Scott from the Santa Barbara Museum of Herbal Historical past, together with collaborators from the College of Cape The city, Sea Exchange Believe, Stellenbosch College, and the College of Colorado Boulder, gives a curious glimpse into the habitats, symbiotic relationships, and taxonomy of those fascinating creatures.
Printed within the magazine ZooKeys, the find out about specializes in 4 species of galeommatoidean bivalves accrued from the Western Cape area of South Africa. Amongst those is one new species, Brachiomya ducentiunus. This small clam, which is simplest 2 mm (lower than 1/eighth inch) in duration, spends its lifestyles crawling between the spines of sea urchins.
The brand new species has to this point simplest been present in one locality in False Bay, South Africa, the place it used to be discovered connected to the burrowing sea urchin Spatagobrissus mirabilis in coarse gravel at a intensity of about 3 m. It has now not been noticed free-living, with out the host urchin.
Brachiomya ducentiunus used to be found out whilst getting ready and dealing at the 1001 Seaforest Species mission, a analysis and storytelling program aimed toward expanding consciousness of regional kelp mattress ecosystems colloquially known as “the Nice African Seaforest.”
“This find out about marks a vital development in our figuring out of the biodiversity and ecological interactions of galeommatoidean bivalves,” says lead writer Valentich-Scott. “By way of uncovering the hidden lives of those small however ecologically necessary organisms, we are hoping to give a contribution to the wider wisdom of marine biodiversity and the conservation of those distinctive habitats.”
Dozens of Brachiomya ducentiunus crawling at the floor of a sea urchin. Credit score: Charles Griffiths
Co-author Charles L. Griffiths, emeritus professor on the College of Cape The city, says, “A big share of smaller marine invertebrates stay undescribed in western South Africa and virtually any mission that samples specialised habitats turns up many new information and species.”
In a identical vein, co-author Jannes Landschoff, marine biologist on the Sea Exchange Believe, says “Developing foundational biodiversity wisdom is a maximum necessary step to the humbling realization of the way attention-grabbing and uniquely various a spot is. I see this each day thru our paintings within the wealthy coastal waters of Cape The city, the place an in depth underwater kelp wooded area, the ‘Nice African Seaforest,’ grows.”
Additional information:
Paul Valentich-Scott et al, Bivalves of superfamily Galeommatoidea (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from western South Africa, with observations on commensal relationships and habitats, ZooKeys (2024). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1207.124517
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