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investigator have discovered a new species of bright - yellow " margarita " snail hiding in plain sight on acoral reefin the Florida Keys . The diminutive invertebrate , which lacks a traditionalsnailshell , can frivol away out toxic mucous secretion web .
The newfound metal money , namedCayo margaritaas an homage to the late Jimmy Buffett , was discovered on Florida ’s Coral Reef , the only roadblock Rand organisation in the United States . The vibrant chromaticity of the escargot and its close-fitting proximity to the Florida coastline inspired research worker to name the snail after " Margaritaville , " the birdsong by Buffett , who died on Sept. 1 .
The new species of margarita snail (Cayo margarita)was discovered in the coral reef of the Florida Keys.
The genus , Cayo , translates to " low island " and key how the snails ' circular bodies come along on the reef .
C. margaritagrows to around 0.4 inch ( 1 centimeter ) and uses its toxic mucus web to catch plankton , alga and dust . These snails spend their entire lives drop anchor to the same dapple of the Witwatersrand and trust on ocean stream to waft nutrient past their mucus webs .
The researcher described the newfound snail mintage in a study published Oct. 9 in the journalPeerJ , along with a close related hydrated lime - green snail , namedCayo galbinus , that was lately discovered by the same research worker on coral reefs in Belize .
A tiny margarita snail sitting in the middle of a dead section of coral.
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The two species belong to to the family Vermetidae , also known as the worm snails , because they do not practice their shells to protect their soft body . alternatively , their modified shell playact as a lead that holds them to the reef .
" They are interrelate to even detached - living snails , but when the juvenile person find a suitable berth to live on , they hunker down , cement their shell to the substratum , and never move again , " bailiwick lead authorRüdiger Bieler , conservator of invertebrates at the Field Museum in Chicago , enounce in astatement . It is interesting to see two related animals practice the same soundbox part for something completely different , he added .
A newfound lime-green sea snailCayo galbinuswas also described by the researchers.
The novel coinage are closely relate to the Spider - Man escargot , Thylacodes vandyensis , whichwas identify in the Florida Keys by Bieler and his squad in 2017 . As its name suggests , T. vandyensisalso shoot out chemically enrich mucus webs .
The research worker think the toxicCayosnails ' bright colors are a warning to other creature to " deter the neighbors from become too close , " Bieler said . This would explain how they are able to live out in the surface without any protective scale , he tot up .
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Researchers initially thought the two newfound snails could be relate sub - species that had altered their colors ground on their location . But this turned out not to be the case .
" ab initio , when I ascertain the lime - green one and the lemon - yellowed one , I figured they were the same species , " Bieler said . " But when we sequence their deoxyribonucleic acid , they were very different . "
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C. margaritaandC. galbinuscould be some of the few marine creature that may fly high as a consequence ofclimate change . The snail favour for good ground themselves to drained corals , which will become progressively usual as ocean temperature rise and corals discolourise themselves . However , dead reefs could mean there is less food available to them .
The discovery ofC. margaritais a reminder that there are lots of undescribed specie hiding in plain mass .
They live in a often visited reef , and even then " we had to take care very closely " to see them , Bieler said . " It ’s another indicant that right under our noses , we have undescribed species . "
