Shipwrecks have become a viable habitat for many sea creatures, especially molluscs and many other species of marine invertebrates.
When a team of researchers surveyed a World War II shipwreck just off the coast of the Florida Keys, they found not just a thriving community of sea creatures, but also a new worm-snail species that reminded them of a certain web-slinging hero: Spider-Man.
Thylacodes Vandyensis
Perhaps one of the most noticeable things about the newly described Thylacodes vandyensis is its capability to eject slime from its tentacles to create webs, much like a spider but at a considerably slower pace.
This worm snail has a reddish tan coloring and lives in tubular shells instead of the coiled ones that other snail species are accustomed to. Though the new worm-snail species is known to filter feed, its tongue is covered in teeth that it uses to take hold of the web and pull in the prey trapped within.
Quite unlike their garden-dwelling relatives, stationary worm-snails use their mucus not to move, but to catch prey and warn predators off.
Apart from the worm-snail, researchers also found a thriving community of the giant foam oyster Hyotissa hyotis, and mollusks Cyclothyca pacei and Hyotissa mcgintyi to name a few.
The new species was found in the shipwreck of the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a transport ship during World War II. It was purposely sunk to serve as a tourist destination for divers and as an artificial reef for the marine community.
Invasive Species?
Upon DNA analysis, researchers discovered that the new species did not originate in the location, but likely drifted off or carried off by ships from somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the wonders of having described a new worm-snail species, researchers are also concerned about the possible effects of the animal's presence on the growing ecosystem in the shipwreck.
As it turns out, worm-snails have a high tendency to become invasive. They can influence coral growth in the Pacific and have been seen to be excellent hosts to a parasite that infects loggerhead turtles.
"Worm-snail species have been shown to have detrimental effects on corals and to be intermediate hosts of marine turtle parasites (certain blood flukes), and both corals and turtles are part of our native fauna," said study co-author Timothy Collins. "In addition, by the time you find out for sure that a species is a really bad invasive, it is often too late to do anything about it, so catching new species early is critical for effective control."
As such, consistent monitoring is to be done in the location to ensure that efforts in placing artificial reefs such as shipwrecks, as well as the preservation of natural reefs, will not be thwarted by the presence of the worm-snail.
The researchers' work was published in the journal PeerJ.
