On January 8, the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park Management Board announced that Vietnamese scientists have just discovered a new species of snail here.
This snail species has the scientific name Calybium plicatus sp.nov. belonging to the genus Calybium, family Helicinidae, order Cycloneritida, class Gastropoda, kingdom Animalia.
Calybium plicatus sp.nov. was collected at Sump 1, Son Doong Cave. This is the first recorded species of terrestrial gastropod molluscs in Vietnam.
This species has a shell shape similar to Calybium massiei, Morlet, 1892 but differs in having a smaller shell size, the apex wall having six equally spaced apical plates.
This new species has been proposed by the research team to be named Son Doong cone snail.
It is known that Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park has recorded 2,954 species of vascular plants, belonging to 1,007 genera, 198 families, 63 orders, 12 classes, and 6 phyla.
