For two weeks and without knowing it, five molluscs have been crawling on an unusual podium: that of the "Mollusc of the Year". The specialists carried out a first selection among the more than 85,000 species of molluscs known in the world (terrestrial and marine snails, slugs, oysters, etc.). Since March 1st, fans can vote online to elect the most beautiful. Drum roll since the contest ends Sunday, and there can only be one winner.
The vote has been organized for two years by a centre for the study of genomic biodiversity (Loewe), based in Frankfurt, Germany, and the winning mollusc will have its genome mapped, in order to better understand its evolution and potential benefits for humanity.
"Of all invertebrates, molluscs are the most appreciated by humans"
Last year, the winner was a spectacular Cuban painted snail (Polymita picta). This year's finalists are: Chilean abalone known as "loco" (Concholepas concholepas), leopard slug (Limax maximus), a shellless sea snail known as micromelo undatus, a giant deep oyster (Neopycnodonte zibrowii) and a horned sea slug (Hermissenda crassicornis). All have a head, a bowel tube and a muscular "foot" to move around.
"Of all the invertebrates, molluscs are the most appreciated by humans, but this phylum is surprisingly neglected in genetic research," Carola Greve, director of the Loewe laboratory, told AFP. Astonishing yes, while molluscs have existed for more than 500 million years and represent, after insects, the most populated animal subdivision on the planet.
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