Scuba-diving tourism, which is widely promoted as a sustainable way to experience coral reefs, is causing frequent and often hidden damage to fragile marine ecosystems.

Researchers have discovered a new species of tiny sea slug named Thecacera sesama in Keelung, Taiwan, which measures less than three millimeters long and lives on aquatic invertebrates called bryozoans. Published in the journal ZooKeys, the discovery highlights the vast number of minute marine species that likely remain hidden due to the region's harsh and highly restricted diving conditions.

When evaluating the health of native, wild snakes in the southeastern US, some species emerged as particularly sickly, a new study showed. Pygmy rattlesnakes – historically persecuted by humans – were found to be particularly affected by disease caused by fungi and parasites. The study also showed that other factors such as location and simultaneous infections can influence snake health, too. The team said this broad overview of native snakes’ health could help prevent pathogen spillover between native and invasive as well as free-living and captive snakes.

When the loss of a queen wasp triggers a power struggle and social turmoil, colonies can survive the upheaval thanks to helpful wasps that pick up the slack, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

Three previously unknown species of mountain pit vipers have been discovered in the remote Himalaya and Hindu Kush, revealing that a snake first described in 1864 is actually a complex of several deeply divergent species. By combining DNA, morphology, ecology, and evidence from both recent fieldwork and 19th-century museum specimens, including the original type specimen, the researchers uncovered previously hidden diversity in one of Asia’s least explored mountain regions. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.