Meet the International Mollusc of the Year

By Jim Leffman via SWNS

An endangered seafood delicacy that could hold a cure for cancer has been crowned International Mollusc of the Year.

Though it's not much to look at, the Chilean Abalone, a large, carnivorous limpet with a heavy shell, got more than 40 percent of the public vote.

A component in its blood has been shown to be effective against bladder and prostate cancer.

It beat off four other finalists and has won a complete genomic analysis which should help preserve the species and look into its cancer-preventing properties.

The competition is held by the Senckenberg Museum, the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) and the International Society for Mollusc Research (Unitas Malacologica) to raise awareness of the enormous biodiversity of molluscs and the threats they face.

The abalone, Latin name Concholepas concholepas belongs to the family of Murex snails and is found off the coast of Chile and Peru.

Technically a snail rather than an abalone they can grow up to 15cm, and as a carnivore, it controls the occurrence of other species.

It has great cultural, social, economic, evolutionary, and ecological importance but its stocks are endangered due to severe overfishing, as it is traded worldwide as a delicacy.

Fishing for them was banned in 1989 but in 1992 a small number of accredited divers were allowed to take them.

As the winning species of the competition, the marine snail will receive a complete sequencing of its genome by the LOEWE Centre TBG.

Competition judge Dr. Carola Greve, lab manager at the LOEWE TBG Centre said: " On the one hand, the species has to adapt to adverse conditions such as exploitation and marine pollution.

"In addition, however, a component of its blood, the oxygen transporter haemocyanin, also shows an immunotherapeutic effect against some types of cancer.

"So, the genomic analysis can not only help to explore adaptation strategies and different populations in the large distribution area, but also to discover new molecules with pharmaceutical importance."

Giant deep sea oyster. (Dr. Max Wisshak via SWNS)

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Although molluscs form the second largest animal phylum after arthropods, the genomes of only a few mollusc species have been completely sequenced so far.

Accordingly, little is known about the genomic basis for the diversity of the species, their adaptive abilities, or the natural products they produce.

The team called on scientists and laypeople to nominate species for a shortlist of five which was then put to the public vote.

Of the total of 4,309 votes received from all over the world, the Chilean Abalone received the most votes by a wide margin – it was voted for 1,798 times.

It is followed in second place by the Wavy Bubble Snail (Micromelo undatus) with 970 votes.

The giant deep-sea oyster (Neopycnodonte zibrowii) received 745 votes andthe thick-horned nudibranch (Hermissenda crassicornis) 485 votes.

The only land-dwelling mollusc among the nominated species, the leopard slug (Limax maximus), was voted for 311 times.

Professor Julia Sigwart, Section Head of the Department of Malacology at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt said: "Together, we are getting closer to our goal of publicly showing the enormous biodiversity of molluscs and arousing enthusiasm for these often underestimated organisms, many of which perform important tasks in their respective ecosystems.

"Therefore, we also want to convey how important their protection is."