Various organisms live almost everywhere in the world, from the deep sea to the top of the mountains. Most of them are still unknown; to date, only 14% of land species and 9% of marine species have been recognized.
The SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) include goals to conserve and protect lives below water and on land. Revealing the actual biodiversity on the earth should be a basis to achieve these goals because we could not evaluate what kind of organisms are decreasing without knowledge about the actual species richness.
I am studying Polycladida, a group of marine flatworms. Although they are fascinating in having conspicuous color patterns on their dorsal surface and the peculiar copulatory system called “penis fencing”, there are still few studies about them. Some are still undiscovered, therefore, we cannot evaluate how marine flatworms could affect our society. Accumulating knowledge about these animals could lead us to create sustainable environments and discover interesting topics in the world.