Rare snail species named after tennis great Novak Djokovic

A rare freshwater species of snail discovered in Montenegro has been named after Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic.

Travunijana djokovici, which is classed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, was first identified in 2019 at a spring near the country’s capital Podgorica, although its precise origins remain unclear.

Jozef Grego and Vladimir Pesic of the University of Montenegro made the discovery and explained that they chose to name it after the current world ATP number one, who has won 19 Grand Slams across a stellar career including five Wimbledon titles, in tribute to Mr Djovokic’s inspiring “enthusiasm and energy”.

“To discover some of the world’s rarest animals that inhabit the unique underground habitats of the Dinaric karst, to reach inaccessible cave and spring habitats and for the restless work during processing of the collected material, you need Novak’s energy and enthusiasm,” the researchers said, publishing their findings in the academic journal Subterranean Biology.

Travunijana djokovici, which sports a milky-white shell shaped like an elongated cone, is part of a diverse family of tiny mud snails known as Hydrobiidae, which inhabit freshwater caves and subterranean habitats like the karst – a landscape in which the bedrock dissolves to create sinkholes, sinking streams, caves and springs.

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The experts said that subterranean ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to man-made environmental changes and are often overlooked during conservation efforts because they are so obscure.

Djokovic’s great rival Roger Federer has twice been presented with dairy cows by his native Switzerland as a reward for his exploits on the court but, it has to be said, having a new species of gastropod named after you is also pretty ace.