Scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have identified at least one species of nematode that is completely new to science, with evidence suggesting there may be a second. Researchers from the University of Utah recently published a paper describing the tiny roundworm and formally naming it in a way that honors the Indigenous people whose ancestral lands include the lake.

The species has been named Diplolaimelloides woaabi and appears to live only in the Great Salt Lake. That makes it endemic to the lake and potentially an important, though still poorly understood, part of its ecosystem. To choose the name, the research team, led by University of Utah biology professor Michael Werner, worked with the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Tribal elders suggested Wo'aabi, an Indigenous word meaning "worm."

Why Nematodes Matter

Nematodes are among the most widespread animals on Earth. They are found in nearly every environment imaginable, including polar ice, deep-sea hydrothermal vents and ordinary backyard soil. Most are smaller than a millimeter, which is why they often go unnoticed.

Despite their size, nematodes are extraordinarily abundant. Scientists have identified more than 250,000 species so far, making them the most numerous animal phylum in both land and water ecosystems. Roughly 80% of animal life in terrestrial soils and about 90% of animals living on the ocean floor are nematodes.

The First Discovery in the Lake

Until recently, no nematodes had been definitively documented in the Great Salt Lake. That changed in 2022, when field expeditions led by Julie Jung uncovered nematodes living in the lake's microbialites. These are hardened, mound-like structures formed by microbial communities on the lakebed.

Jung, who was a postdoctoral researcher in Werner's lab at the time, collected samples while traveling across the lake by kayak and bicycle. The team reported that initial discovery in a scientific paper published last year.

"We thought that this was probably a new species of nematode from the beginning, but it took three years of additional work to taxonomically confirm that suspicion," said Jung, now an assistant professor at Weber State University.

Only the Third Animal Known to Survive There

With this finding, nematodes became just the third group of animals known to live in the Great Salt Lake's extremely salty water. The other two are brine shrimp and brine flies, which are crucial food sources for millions of migratory birds that stop at the lake each year.

Further research suggests the story may not be finished. Genetic evidence indicates there could be a second, previously unknown nematode species among the samples collected. Thomas Murray, an undergraduate researcher and second author on the paper, has been helping sample different regions of the lake to investigate this possibility.