A newfangled species of semi - slug has been divulge in the raging lowland forests of Ulu Temburong National Park , Brunei , with the aid of citizen scientists . In case this is the first time you ’re hearing of a semi - slug , sometimes called “ snuggery ” by mollusk researchers , these worthless babies conduct the halfway - mansion between aslugand asnail .
Snugs have shells on their backs , but they ’re too small for the mollusks to crawfish out deep down . Instead , they play as a sort of afternoon tea cozy of trade protection while the worm - corresponding bulk of their organic structure last out exposed . snug make up the majority of slugs found on Borneo , an island share by Brunei , Malaysia , and Indonesia .
It ’s home to 10 semi - slug species from theMicroparmariongenus , all of which enjoy basking in the cool mountainous forests . However , the peculiar cubby throw another curve ball when a new metal money was give away sliming through the hot lowland forests of Ulu Temburong .
Behold, Microparmarion sallehi. Image credit: Pierre Escoubas
The snug was spotted during an expedition jointly leave by Taxon Expeditions and Universiti Brunei Darussalam ( UBD ) who have been running biodiversity discovery stumble for scientists , students , and layperson for many years . The 2018 expedition to these forests included honorable gadfly control company possessor Simon Berenyi , who blob something under a leaf that others in front of him had duck under .
It was vile with a shell of sort , but not one Berenyi recognized . The expedition team gathered to ponder the mollusk ’s identity and zoologists suspected it might be a new species , but they were locomote to need more than one if they were snuff it to get it bring out .
squad have return to Ulu Temburong several times over the preceding few twelvemonth , turning up more and more specimen that equalize Berenyi ’s rummy escargot - slug . Eventually enough observations had been made for UBD pupil Nurilya Ezzwan and Izzah Hamdani , and citizen scientist Harrison Wu from Virginia , USA , to put together a formal description for the unexampled snug species .
“ We describeMicroparmarion sallehi [ … ] after field centre supervisor Md Salleh Abdullah Bat , ” they wrote in a new paper . “ We provide item on the outside and internal reproductive sound structure , the scale and the ecology of the eccentric locality , as well as a diagnosis compare it with related to metal money . ”
It becomes one of just two known species of semi - type slug to be found in lowland woods rather than cragged single , sitting alongside its snug budM. exquadratus . M. sallehiwas constitute after Mr. Md Salleh Abdullah Bat , the team ’s field center supervisor , who was due to retire a few week after their undertaking was finish .
The novel snug appear to be the most basal of the species so far described in the genus , maybe suggesting that speciation events have succeed a shift towards habitat at a high elevation . Further research is demand to form firm conclusion about these elusive mollusks , but with their sighting being so rare it could be some prison term before we get there .
peeper at the quick , phratry . We ’re go away cosy seek .
The subject is published in theBiodiversity Data Journal .
