Shrimp and flies, shrimp and flies. That’s all researchers ever find at Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Well, after decades of noting its unremarkable signs of life, researchers have confirmed the presence of at least one previously unknown species in the Great Salt Lake, which the lake can wave around as proof that it’s got a bit more biodiversity than previously thought.
Unfortunately, it’s a new type of nematode.
The newly identified species, Diplolaimelloides woaabi, detailed in a new study released this past December, takes its name from an Indigenous word meaning “worm,” and appears to be endemic to the lake. It was discovered in microbialites, rock-like structures formed by microbes, during fieldwork led by University of Utah scientist Julie Jung in 2022.
How Scientists Found Surprising Species Living in the Great Salt Lake
While nematodes can be found everywhere, so prevalent that you’d struggle to name a place you couldn’t find them, this is the first time they’ve ever been found in the Great Salt Lake.
What makes it especially weird is that Diplolaimelloides are usually found in coastal environments. The Great Salt Lake is about 800 miles from the nearest ocean and over 4,000 feet above sea level. How does a coastal worm show up in a briny lake that is, essentially, sitting on top of a very wide mountain?
Researchers have theories and not much more than that. One of them suggests that the nematodes have been there for tens of millions of years, dating back to when much of Utah was the shoreline of an ancient inland sea.
The theory suggests that as the land shifted, the water got saltier, and the worms may have adapted to survive the dramatic environmental shift. A much simpler theory suggests that migrating birds either accidentally brought them there from salty lakes in South America.
Adding to the mystery, lake samples showed a heavy skew toward female worms, a pattern that disappears when the nematodes are grown in the lab. Something about the lake itself appears to be influencing their biology.
Researchers from the University of Utah think both theories are a bit absurd. But until something more logical presents itself, it’s the best we’ve got.
The post Everything We Know About the Strange New Species Discovered in the Great Salt Lake appeared first on VICE.
