The creature is a microscopic roundworm: Diplolaimelloides woaabi, a newly described nematode found in Great Salt Lake microbialites. Scientists identified it using genetic sequencing and microscopy. Its discovery adds a species to the lake’s known life, but does not show that the lake was thought to be lifeless—or explain how this worm got there.
What did scientists discover in Great Salt Lake?
Researchers described Diplolaimelloides woaabi as a new species of free-living nematode, a type of roundworm. It belongs to the family Monhysteridae and was found in microbialites—rock-like structures formed by communities of microorganisms—in Great Salt Lake, Utah. The species description appeared online on November 7, 2025, in the Journal of Nematology. PubMed’s record of the scientific paper identifies the species and its habitat.
The worm’s body is under 1.5 millimeters long, according to the species description. That measurement describes its size, not how many worms live in the lake. The finding is a new species record, not evidence that no animals were known to live there: the lake already has other animal life.
How did researchers identify it as a new species?
The researchers combined 18S genetic sequencing with morphological examination. They used scanning electron microscopy and differential interference contrast microscopy to inspect the worm’s physical features. The paper’s diagnosis includes details such as ocelli (light-sensitive spots), short sensory setae near the head, and distinctive mouth and reproductive structures. Taken together, the genetic and anatomical evidence supported describing it as a distinct species.
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What does the name woaabi mean?
The University of Utah reports that elders from the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation suggested the name “woaabi.” That naming account comes from the university’s coverage, not from a claim that the species itself has a known cultural or ecological role. The university report is titled “Great Salt Lake roundworm gets Shoshone name.”
What remains unknown about the Great Salt Lake nematode?
Its role in the lake
The species paper describes D. woaabi as a potential bioindicator of ecological change. That means it may be worth studying as a possible signal of changing conditions; it is not yet a validated monitoring tool. Its broader ecological role has not been established by the species description.
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How it arrived or persisted
The discovery does not establish how the nematode came to be in Great Salt Lake. In a secondary report, Brigham Young University nematologist Byron Adams offered one possible starting explanation: “The null hypothesis is that they’re here because they’ve always kind of been here.” That is a hypothesis, not a finding that the species has persisted locally for a particular length of time. The same report raises migratory birds as a possible means of transport; that, too, remains speculation rather than a demonstrated route. The secondary report presents these ideas as possibilities.
The University of Utah Werner Lab says the discovery occurred in 2024, before the species was formally described in 2025. The lab’s research page provides that discovery context.
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