Senckenberg launches 2025 Mollusk of the Year competition
Senckenberg Research Institute has opened public voting for the 2025 Mollusk of the Year to increase awareness of global biodiversity within the mollusk phylum.
The Senckenberg Nature Research Society and Unitas Malacologica have launched their fifth annual competition to name the International Mollusk of the Year. Public voting is open through March 31 on the institute's dedicated website.
The competition features five finalists selected from over 30 nominations by a panel of researchers. The candidates are the deep-sea octopus Muusoctopus, the Hawaiian black-foot limpet, the blue dragon sea slug, the Atlantic carrier snail, and the ocean quahog.
Beyond public engagement, the initiative aims to highlight the diverse habitats and evolutionary strategies of mollusks. As a research incentive, Senckenberg will perform a full genomic sequencing of the winning species to further scientific understanding of its biology.
The winner is scheduled to be announced on April 3, 2025.