Tiny Nematode from Great Salt Lake Opens Window on Life in Extreme Salinity

Researchers from the University of Utah describe Diplolaimelloides woaabi, a tiny free-living nematode under 1.5 mm found in the Great Salt Lake’s microbialites, making it the lake’s third known metazoan and potentially a key indicator of ecosystem health in extreme salinity as researchers debate its origins—ancient seaway remnants or migratory birds—and study its unique anatomy and genetics through sequencing and microscopy.