KOTA KINABALU: Marine scientists from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) have named a new marine tardigrade species found on the shores of Labuan as Batillipes malaysianus, in honour of the nation.
Marine tardigrades are microscopic, eight-legged invertebrates, also known as water bears.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Dr Cheng-Ann Chen said the discovery stems from field surveys conducted from Nov 29, 2023 to Sept 16, 2024, which coincided with Malaysia Day.
He said the breakthrough represents Malaysia’s first update on marine tardigrades in more than 50 years and underscores the country’s status as a global biodiversity hotspot.
"We dedicate both the discovery and the naming of Batillipes malaysianus in celebration of Malaysia’s 68th Independence Day,” he said in a statement, Sunday (Sept 14).
Cheng said that although these animals were extremely scarce, the diagnostic characters they observed confirmed that this was new to science.
He said the findings were published in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom in June this year.
He added that across two sampling trips, the team found very low densities of marine tardigrades.
“Among six individuals of the genus Batillipes, one was recognised as a species new to science and later formally described as Batillipes malaysianus,” said Cheng.
The study also reports, for the first time in Malaysia, the presence of Batillipes Rotundiculus.
The type material is deposited in the Borneo Marine Research Institute’s (BMRI) collection for permanent scientific reference.
The research was led by Cheng (BMRI, UMS) with postgraduate student Ng Wei Ling (BMRI, UMS), in collaboration with a researcher from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Professor Dr Tadashi Kajita (University of the Ryukyus, Japan).
Chen also recommended an expanded coastal survey together with modern molecular approaches to reveal the true extent of Malaysia’s microscopic marine diversity.
