Mexican scientists discover world’s smallest freshwater snail in Coahuila cave

Mexican scientists person discovered the world’s smallest freshwater snail, a transparent mollusk measuring conscionable 0.7 millimeters — astir the width of a pinhead — successful an underground outpouring successful the bluish authorities of Coahuila.

The caller species, named Microphreatus saltillensis, represents not lone an wholly caller taxon but besides a caller genus, according to researchers astatine the Juárez University of the State of Durango (UJED). Their findings were published successful July successful the planetary technological diary Zootaxa.

#Ciencias | El #caracol más pequeño del mundo fue descubierto en #Coahuila, dentro de una cueva ubicada a 10 kilómetros de Saltillo. Se trata de “Microphreatus saltillensis”, una nueva especie —y también nuevo género— hallada en el manantial de #LosChorros, cuya concha mide… pic.twitter.com/jq2ni0tmsW

— La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) August 7, 2025

The taxon was named “micro” for its tiny size, “phreatus” for the h2o tables successful which it lives and “santillensis” successful homage to the adjacent metropolis of Saltillo — which, unrelated to the discovery, happens to beryllium one of Mexico’s champion places to unrecorded and work.

“When we observed these shells successful the samples, we noticed they were adjacent smaller than those of the subterranean snails we commonly study,” said Alexander Czaja, a UJED prof who specializes successful malacology, the subdivision of biology dedicated to the survey of mollusks.

Czaja led the squad that discovered the tiny carnal via a sediment postulation betwixt precocious 2024 and January 2025.

“After a thorough reappraisal of the planetary lit lasting respective weeks, we confirmed that this is the smallest freshwater snail described successful the satellite to date,” Czaja added successful a caller UJED property release.

The find was made successful El Chorro, a groundwater-fed outpouring astir 17 kilometers from Saltillo. The snail is considered endemic to this area, though scientists judge much undiscovered taxon whitethorn beryllium surviving successful akin subterranean waters.

More than 80 specimens were collected, revealing striking evolutionary adaptations that let the snails to unrecorded underground successful full darkness, among grains of water-saturated soil and sediment.

“These snails person evolved to past successful precise circumstantial and hostile conditions,” Czaja said. “Their tiny size is simply a indispensable adaptation for surviving among soil particles. They are incredibly specialized organisms for surviving nether these conditions.”

The snail’s size is astir adjacent to the thickness of a recognition card. The squad stressed that underground invertebrates, though often overlooked, service cardinal roles successful nature.

“Every organism plays a relation successful its ecosystem, adjacent a snail little than a millimeter successful size,” Czaja said, adding, “but we’re inactive successful our infancy erstwhile it comes to studying them. We inactive request to recognize however they interact, however they past and what relation they play successful ecological balance.”

In Mexico, immoderate snails — though not this 1 — have traditionally been utilized to marque dyes for textiles and clothing. In immoderate cases, this has created biology concerns owed to dwindling snail populations.

This caller tiny find successful Coahuila isn’t the archetypal clip the authorities has made carnal quality this twelvemonth — and astatine other ends of the size spectrum. In March, the absorption was connected a much, overmuch larger animal, arsenic “mystery giraffes” were seen roaming the countryside.

With reports from Milenio and La Jornada