PREVIEW

A team of British and Cuban scientists has embarked on a mission to save several species of snail whose unique beauty has threatened their very existence.

Polymita snails, native only to the forests of eastern Cuba, are renowned for their strikingly colourful and intricately patterned shells.
So striking are they that in 2022 they were crowned mollusc of the year by voters around the world.

Their beauty comes at a price, however. Coveted by collectors and those who make colourful jewellery for tourists, these rare molluscs are being pushed to the brink of extinction.
All six known species of Polymita are now under threat, with Polymita sulphurosa - lime green with flame-like blue swirls and vivid orange bands - considered the most endangered.

Every shell once housed a living animal. Yet they are still widely sold as decorative objects or fashioned into jewellery. Images from Cuba show beaded necklaces that, upon closer inspection, include actual Polymita shells.

Despite being protected under international regulations, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), enforcement is proving difficult. While it is illegal to remove Polymita snails or their shells from Cuba without a permit, the sale of shells abroad is often permitted — and easily found online.

In an attempt to save the snails, researchers from the University of Nottingham, led by Professor Angus Davison and conservation biologists in Cuba have joined forces in a race against time to understand and preserve these snails.

Professor Davison says: “Snails don’t always get the attention that they deserve, even though they are important ecologically and as molluscs are part of one of the most diverse groups of animals on earth. The prize – an assembled whole genome sequence – will enable us to begin research on understanding the snail’s biology.

“Unfortunately, Cuban Painted Snails are at risk because of habitat loss, and illegal trade to shell collectors and tourists.”

Professor Bernardo Reyes-Tur, a conservation scientist at the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba, has taken the extraordinary step of rearing the snails in his own home, battling frequent power cuts and tropical heat to give the delicate creatures the best chance of survival.

Professor Reyes-Tur adds: “We hope that the genome sequencing of the Cuban Painted Snail will benefit the conservation of these amazing snails and the other nearly 1400 Cuban land snail species.”

In Nottingham, Professor Davison’s team is unlocking the snails’ genetic blueprint. Using cryogenic freezers, they store tissue samples and sequence the snails’ genomes to better understand what gives them their dazzling diversity in colour and pattern.

This genetic work is also vital for informing conservation efforts - both for breeding programmes and for pinpointing which populations are most at risk.

The hope is that science can provide answers before the Polymita snails - and their spectacular spirals of colour - disappear from their forest home and into collectors’ cabinets for good.