Our colleagues from the online environmental journal Mongabay report the discovery by three biologists—a Hungarian, a Malagasy, and a South Korean—of a new species of terrestrial invertebrate, Kynotus insularis. The findings were published in the journal ZooKeys at the end of last July.
Measuring approximately 80 cm in length with a diameter of 15.5 to 17.5 mm, this worm is not the largest on the island; that record is still held by K. giganteus, discovered in 2011 in Farafangana, which can reach nearly 3 meters.
The animal was spotted on the Nosy Be archipelago in northwestern Madagascar, an environment heavily impacted by human presence. It belongs to the Kynotidae family, endemic to the Great Island, which now includes 23 identified species of the Kynotus genus. Researcher Malalatiana Razafindrakoto, from the Radioisotope Laboratory at the University of Antananarivo, explained to Mongabay that this discovery resulted from expeditions conducted in Morondava and Nosy Be between February and March 2026. These missions also led to the rediscovery of K. darwinii, a species for which no specimens had been collected since the end of the 19th century.
Earthworms play a major ecological role and are often described as “soil engineers”: they improve soil structure, aeration, and drainage, and enrich nutrient content, particularly phosphorus, through their waste, thereby promoting plant growth.
Captured & Published at: 2026-08-21 06:39:04 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/08/recherches-trois-biologistes-decouvrent.html