Species named as the most difficult to identify in the world

The brave Periwinkles, which are commonly found in the North Atlantic coast, have been named as the creature more identified incorrectly in the world.

This misidentification stems from the fact that these snails found in the wells of the rocks in almost every stretch of coast around the UK, have many variations of color and form that have puzzled scientists for centuries, reported The Guardian.

Researchers cataloging of marine life in the world have found that scientists claimed to have discovered different species and subspecies of these molluscs at least 113 times, more than any other animal or plant.

The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) clarifies that its scientific name is Littorina saxatilis accepted that comes from its first description in 1792 by the naturalist Giuseppe Olivi.

WoRMS explains that identify bad animals and plants as species new to science has greatly inflated the number of registered worldwide in scientific literature species.

A reassessment has led to the elimination of 190,400 marine species in the record books since 2008 because they had already been named and described leaves 228 450 accepted species.

Among the duplication is an octopus, Octopus rooseveltii, which received its name in 1941 in honor of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and that researchers now realize that was originally identified in 1904 as Octopus oculifer.

Jan Mees, Co-President of WoRMS, said the record provides “for the first time in history,”, a comprehensive resource for researchers to check if the specimens are new to science.

Mees believes that the difficulty in accessing scientific literature in previous decades was the main reason why many discoveries have been repeated.

In his opinion, other factors were more reprehensible, including “unscientific”, while “commercial interests” could also play a role, for example, when you can get more money by selling more copies of the same “species” to collectors.

However, they are adding new species to the list at a rate of one every four days. Several thousand have been discovered since 2008 – including dolphins, sharks, whales, Squid, Algae and Fungi.

Another 10,000 new marine specimens are estimated to lie in laboratory flasks worldwide waiting to be analyzed before being baptized and described in scientific papers, the standard method of announcing the discovery of a previously unknown species.

SOURCE: Fis.com