Discover Lepetodrilus marianae

In August, we launched our new publication – Ocean Species Discoveries (OSD) that introduced 12 species (11 new, 1 reinstated) and established a new platform for accelerating species descriptions! But we want to take you a little deeper into the world of taxonomy and share how new species are discovered, named, and described. Welcome to our new series: Species Discovery Stories!

First up is a wrinkly-shelled limpet—Lepetodrilus marianae. This little limpet has had quite the journey to publication, taking over 15 years!

This limpet resides in deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields in Mariana Arc and Mariana Trough in the Pacific Ocean—a relatively well-studied region, in both habitat and biodiversity. Despite being a “new” species, Lepetodrilus marianae has actually been known for quite some time, though not by this name. First appearing in a 2008 paper that mapped molecular phylogeny from all known Lepetodrilus species worldwide, molecular data showed that an undescribed snail of this genus resided in the area.

However, while the region and the snail were known and studied, they hadn’t yet been studied taxonomically. Researchers were conducting molecular work, but not taxonomic work. For non-taxonomists, naming and describing a species is quite challenging, so researchers gave Lepetodrilus marianae an unofficial name: “Lepetodrilus aff. schrolli Mariana Trough”, which they used when referencing the species.

But there was one taxonomist who had been collecting material and studying this species as far back as the 1990s: Lothar A. Beck. In the small world of deep-sea snail taxonomy, since Beck had been working on this new species, other researchers expected him to publish its name and description. Unfortunately, Beck passed away before he could complete his work. Lepetodrilus marianae might have remained unnamed if not for deep-sea snail taxonomist, Dr. Chong Chen.

Dr. Chen was aboard an expedition on the R/V KAIMEI, heading right to the habitat of this new Lepetodrilus limpet. Based on the molecular data produced by other researchers, he was confident he would encounter this unnamed species—and he was right! After collecting specimens with Dr. Hiromi Kayama Watanabe using a suction sampler mounted on the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) KM-ROV, Dr. Chen collaborated with Ms. Miwako Tsuda who carried out additional molecular work to double-check that the specimens collected were indeed “Lepetodrilus aff. schrolli Mariana Trough” and therefore an undescribed species. Dr. Chen photographed the limpet’s uniquely wrinkled shell, showcasing the undulating ridges that give it its distinct appearance. Using scanning electron micrographs, they depicted key structures, from the radula to the shell microstructure.

When it came time to name the limpet, Dr. Chen chose to honor the original work of Lothar A. Beck by naming the species as Beck had intended: Lepetodrilus marianae. It may have taken 15 years, but thanks to Dr. Chen’s efforts, we can now proudly refer to this wrinkly-shelled limpet by its proper name.

Lepetodrilus marianae is one of the 12 species highlighted in the recently launched Ocean Species Discoveries. Check out all the new species here: https://sosa.senckenberg.de/en/discover/ocean-species-discoveries.