A paper published in Nature’s Scientific Reports describes the first freshwater coralline algae. Pneophyllum cetinaensis is a red algae, which are typically a significant component of sea beds in marine environments. In this instance, the new species has been found in the River Cetina in Croatia. The type of transition of species from a marine to a fresh water environment is very rare and has significant implication for coral science.

The research team have made an observation that suggests that snails may be responsible for the spread of the the algae upstream