Two new snail species found in Montenegro canyon targeted by dam

Overview

Updated 2 hours ago

Two new snail species, each about six millimetres long, have been found on limestone rocks in northern Montenegro. One, Cochlostoma komarnica, lives in a canyon slated to be flooded by a proposed hydropower dam.

The snails carry an unusual door-like disk that seals their shells, and they were found by citizen-science expeditions that let non-scientists join real fieldwork. Conservation groups say the discovery strengthens the case to add Komarnica Canyon to the neighbouring Durmitor UNESCO World Heritage site and abandon the dam.

Why it matters

A planned dam could flood Komarnica Canyon and species science has just begun to document.

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Key Indicators

New snail species described in one paper

Cochlostoma komarnica and Cochlostoma dobrido, both new to science.

6 mm

Shell length

Cone-shaped shells, roughly six millimetres long.

Years of citizen-science expeditions (2018–2025)

Fieldwork in Durmitor National Park and Komarnica Canyon by Taxon Expeditions and partners.

Canyon at risk of flooding by a proposed hydropower dam

Komarnica Canyon currently sits outside the Durmitor UNESCO site.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

JĐ

Jovana Đokić

Biologist, Montenegrin Ecologists Society

Co-author of the new study; leading the conservation campaign for Komarnica Canyon

Menno Schilthuizen

Evolutionary biologist, Leiden University; co-founder of Taxon Expeditions

Co-led the Montenegro fieldwork

Janine Buisman

Dutch musician and citizen scientist

Co-author of the paper describing the new species

Organizations Involved

Taxon Expeditions

Fieldwork organisation

Ran the citizen-science surveys that found the snails

Organisation that runs genuine scientific expeditions open to the public.

Montenegrin Ecologists Society (MES)

Conservation NGO

Co-organised the fieldwork; leading the push to protect Komarnica Canyon

Non-profit conservation organisation in Montenegro.

Pensoft Publishers (Biodiversity Data Journal)

Scientific publisher

Published the study describing the new species

Open-access publisher of the Biodiversity Data Journal.

Timeline

January 2018 September 2026

4 events Latest: Today

Tap a bar to jump to that date

September 2026
Discovery reported publicly
Today Statement

Conservation groups cite the new species in their push to protect Komarnica Canyon from the dam.
Today
New snail species formally described
Publication

Biodiversity Data Journal publishes study on Cochlostoma komarnica and Cochlostoma dobrido.
Yesterday
December 2025
Montenegro field season concludes
Fieldwork

Eight years of expeditions in the region end with specimens awaiting analysis in the field lab.
December 31st, 2025
January 2018
Citizen-science surveys begin in Montenegro
Fieldwork

Taxon Expeditions begins biodiversity surveys with public participation in Durmitor and Komarnica.
January 1st, 2018

Scenarios

Komarnica gains UNESCO protection, dam dropped

Possible Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Montenegrin Ecologists Society, EuroNatur, Leiden University researchers

The discovery builds pressure on Montenegro's government. UNESCO evaluates adding Komarnica Canyon to the Durmitor World Heritage site, and authorities formally cancel the hydropower project, preserving the canyon and its undocumented species.

Hydropower project advances despite the discoveries

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Risk flagged by the Montenegrin Ecologists Society

Despite the new species, Montenegro proceeds with the Komarnica dam, awarding contracts and beginning construction. The canyon is flooded, permanently removing habitat for species that may never be documented.

Stalemate: no binding decision on the dam

Likely Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Implied by the long permitting history of Balkan hydropower projects

Neither side wins a final decision. The dam project stalls in permitting and environmental review, while the canyon remains unprotected but undammed, its fate unresolved for years.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1973–1979

Snail darter vs. Tellico Dam (1973–1979)

Discovery of the three-inch snail darter fish in the Little Tennessee River in 1973 halted the Tennessee Valley Authority's nearly finished Tellico Dam under the new Endangered Species Act. The Supreme Court upheld the halt in TVA v. Hill (1978).

Then

Congress exempted the dam in 1979 and it was completed. Snail darter populations were later found in other rivers, and the species was downlisted to threatened.

Now

The case set the precedent that species protection could stop federal construction projects, while showing Congress could override that protection.

Why this matters now

A tiny, little-known species standing against a major dam is exactly the dynamic now playing out in Komarnica Canyon with the door-shelled snails.

1990s–2005

Tara River Canyon, Montenegro (1990s–2005)

The Tara River, flowing through Montenegro's Dinaric Alps, faced a series of hydropower dam proposals in the 1990s. The canyon is among the deepest in Europe and is a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Then

Plans for dams on the Tara were abandoned by 2005 after sustained domestic and international protest, and the river remains undammed.

Now

The Tara became the best-known case of Balkan river protection prevailing over hydropower development.

Why this matters now

It shows a Montenegro canyon can be saved from a dam when public and scientific pressure is sustained, the outcome conservation groups now seek for Komarnica, less than 100 kilometres away.