DOCSLIB.ORG

Phenotypic Diversity of Thuridilla Hopei (Vérany, 1853) (Gas- Tropoda Heterobranchia Sacoglossa)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Phenotypic Diversity of Thuridilla Hopei (Vérany, 1853) (Gas- Tropoda Heterobranchia Sacoglossa) Biodiversity Journal, 2014, 5 (2): 117–130 MONOGRAPH Phenotypic diversity of Thuridilla hopei (Vérany, 1853) (Gas- tropoda Heterobranchia Sacoglossa). A DNA-barcoding ap- proach Giulia Furfaro1, Maria Vittoria Modica2, Marco Oliverio2, Juan Lucas Cervera3 & Paolo Mariottini1* 1Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi di “Roma Tre”, Viale Marconi 446, 00146 Rome, Italy; e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 2Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy; e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 3Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEI•MAR,) Universidad de Cádiz. Polígono Río San Pedro, s/n, Ap.40. 11510 Puerto Real (Cádiz), Spain; e-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author ABSTRACT The sacoglossan Thuridilla hopei (Vérany, 1853) shows highly diverse chromatic patterns. Based on the morphological examination of specimens from different Mediterranean locali- ties, we have observed that in spite of this great variability in colours of T. hopei, two major chromatic morphotypes are related to bathymetry. Specimens from deeper water exhibit blue darker and more uniform patterns than individuals from shallower water, which show a more variable, dashed and spotted arrangement of light blue, yellow, orange, white and black pigmentation. A molecular genetic analysis using the mitochondrial COI and 16S rDNA markers has confirmed that all these extremely different chromatic morphotypes belong to a single specific entity, i.e. T. hopei, a sacoglossan with a wide distribution, from Macaronesia in the Atlantic, to the easternmost Mediterranean Sea. KEY WORDS Sacoglossa; Thuridilla hopei; colour morphotypes; Mediterranean Sea; Atlantic Ocean. Received 28.01.2014; accepted 21.03.2014; printed 30.06.2014 Proceedings of the Seventh Malacological Pontine Meeting, September 9th-10th, 2013 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION Cladophora vagabunda (Linnaeus) van den Hoek (Marín & Ros, 2004; Händeler & Wägele, 2007; The plakobranchid sacoglossan genus Thuri- Händeler, 2011) and it retains functional algal chloro- dilla Bergh, 1872 is represented in the northeastern plasts from its food for few days (Marín & Ros, Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea by two 1989, 2004). The aposematic chromatic pattern of species, T. hopei (Vérany, 1853) (Carmona et al., this slug is related to the presence in its tissues of 2011; Malaquias et al., 2012) and the amphiatlantic toxic compounds like the diterpenoids thuridillin A, T. mazda Ortea et Spinosa, 2000, recently recorded B and C and nor-thuridillin (Gavagnin et al., 1993; from the Azores (Malaquias et al., 2012). The brightly De Rinaldis, 2012). coloured T. hopei lives from the lower intertidal During the last decade, the high levels of in- down to about 35 m depth, and generally is found traspecific chromatic variation of T. hopei has been crawling on hard substrate. It feeds suctorially well documented in literature (Trainito, 2005; on photophilous algae, in particular on Derbesia Händeler, 2011; Carmona et al., 2011 and refer- tenuissima (de Notaris) Crouan et Crouanand ences therein), as well as depicted in the Sea Slug 118 GIULIA FURFARO ET ALII Forum (Australian Museum, Sydney, Available University). DNA was extracted using a standard from http://www.seaslugforum.net/). It is worth of proteinase K phenol/chloroform method with mentioning that the Macaronesian specimens of T. ethanol precipitation, as reported in Oliverio & hopei, have long been ascribed to the Caribbean T. Mariottini (2001). A fragment of the mitochondrial picta (Verril, 1901), due to a similar colour pattern 16S rDNA was amplified by PCR using the univer- (see Cervera et al., 2004; Malaquias et al., 2009), sal primers 16Sar-L and 16Sbr-H (Palumbi et al., until Carmona et al. (2011) demonstrated by genetic 2001), while a fragment of the mitochondrial cy- data that they belong to T. hopei. tochrome oxidase I (COI) was amplified using the We have observed and documented the chro- universal primers LCO1490 and HCO2198 (Folmer matic variability of T. hopei at different Mediter- et al., 1994); for PCR conditions see Prkić et al. ranean localities, particularly along the Italian coast. (2014). All amplicons were sequenced by Genechron Interestingly, we observed that the distribution of Centre of Sequencing, ENEA (La Casaccia, Rome, different chromatic phenotypes is related to ba- Italy) or by European Division of Macrogen Inc. thymetry, as previously reported by Cattaneo-Vietti (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), using the same (1990) and Händeler (2011). Specimens from deeper PCR primers. water exhibit dark blue and more uniform patterns Forward and reverse sequences were assembled (“bluish” form according to Händeler, 2011: 37) and edited, and the resulting consensus sequences than individuals from shallower water, which show of each specimen were readily aligned by hand. a more dashed and spotted arrangement of light BLAST search was always conducted for each se- blue, yellow, orange, white and black pigmentation quence. Published sequences (COI and 16S) of Thuridilla were downloaded from theGenBank. (“rosy” form according to Händeler, 2011: 37). Dif- Although the definition of a phylogenetic hypothe- ferent colour types have been usually considered as sis for the genus Thuridilla was not within the aims chromatic morphotypes of T. hopei, despite the con- of this paper, nevertheless, phylogenetic relation- sistent chromatic differences linked to their ba- ships among the Thuridilla sequences were inferred thymetry (Carmona et al., 2011). to have a phylogenetic framework for the estima- Therefore, we wanted to either confirm or deny tion of the genetic distances: we used neighbour- the conspecificity of “bluish” and “rosy” forms by joining (NJ) and maximum likelihood (ML) (both genetic data, being the significance of chromatic bootstrapped over 1000 replicates), by the software differences difficult to evaluate based on morpho- MEGA 5.0 (Tamura et al., 2011) and Bayesian logical data alone. In this study we applied a molecu- Inference (BI) by the software MrBayes (with 5*106 lar analysis, using two mitochondrial markers, the generations, and 25% burnin) by MrBayes 3.2.2 barcode COI and the 16S rDNA, to the different (Ronquist et al., 2012). Sequences of the Atlantic colour morphotypes of T. hopei, to test the hypothe- Elysia timida Risso, 1818, retrieved from the sis that “bluish” and “rosy” specimens of these GenBank, were used as outgroup. Nodes in the phy- snails belong to the same species and confirm the logenetic trees were considered ‘highly’ supported lusitanic distribution of this sacoglossan sea slug. with Bayesian posterior values ≥96% and bootstrap values ≥80%; nodes with Bayesian posterior values of 90–95% and bootstrap values of 70–79% were MATERIAL AND METHODS considered ‘moderately’ supported (lower support values were considered not significant). Collection data, vouchers and accession num- Genetic divergence among the barcode COI bers are listed in Table 1. Italian specimens from sequences was observed (p distance) and estimated several localities were collected by hand during using the Kimura-2-parameters nucleotide substi- SCUBA diving at different depth. Each specimen tution model (K2p distance). was photographed in situ and/or in aquarium, then fixed in ethanol. A piece of tissue was dissected from the foot for RESULTS AND DISCUSSION DNA extraction, and the remaining animal was de- posited at the Department of Biology and Biotech- Animals were observed and sampled at seven nologies “Charles Darwin” (La Sapienza Rome localities of the Tyrrhenian Sea (Table 1). Phenotypic diversity of Thuridilla hopei (Gastropoda Heterobranchia Sacoglossa). A DNA-barcoding approach 119 Species Voucher ID Locality COI 16S References MNCN Menorca, Carmona et al., Elysia timida HQ616847 --------------- 15.05/53680 Spain (MED) 2011 MNCN Carmona et al., Elysia timida Menorca, Spain (MED) --------------- HQ616818 15.05/53680 2011 Thuridilla NW-Sulawesi, Händeler & ZSM:20033615 --------------- EU140889 albopustulosa Indonesia Wägele, 2007 Thuridilla bayeri --------------- --------------- DQ471279 DQ480208 Bass, 2006 Thuridilla bayeri --------------- --------------- --------------- DQ480206 Bass, 2006 Thuridilla bayeri --------------- --------------- --------------- DQ480207 Bass, 2006 Thuridilla bayeri --------------- --------------- --------------- DQ480207 Bass, 2006 NW-Sulawesi, Händeler & Thuridilla bayeri ZSM:20033612 --------------- EU140886 Indonesia Wägele, 2007 Lizard Island, Wägele et al., Thuridilla carlsoni --------------- HM187640 --------------- Australia 2010 Lizard Island, Händeler & Thuridilla carlsoni --------------- --------------- EU140877 Australia Wägele, 2007 Lizard Island, Händeler & Thuridilla carlsoni --------------- --------------- EU140878 Australia Wägele, 2007 Thuridilla carlsoni --------------- --------------- --------------- DQ480214 Bass, 2006 Lizard Island, Wägele et al., Thuridilla gracilis --------------- HM187641 --------------- Australia 2010 Hamahiga, Okinawa, Takano et al., Thuridilla gracilis --------------- AB758972 --------------- Japan 2013 Lizard Island, Händeler & Thuridilla gracilis --------------- --------------- EU140884 Australia Wägele, 2007 Lizard Island, Händeler & Thuridilla gracilis --------------- --------------- EU140885 Australia Wägele, 2007 Lizard Island,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Tropical Range Extension for the Temperate, Endemic South-Eastern Australian Nudibranch Goniobranchus Splendidus (Angas, 1864)
    diversity Article Tropical Range Extension for the Temperate, Endemic South-Eastern Australian Nudibranch Goniobranchus splendidus (Angas, 1864) Nerida G. Wilson 1,2,*, Anne E. Winters 3 and Karen L. Cheney 3 1 Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool WA 6106, Australia 2 School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009 WA, Australia 3 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia; [email protected] (A.E.W.); [email protected] (K.L.C.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-08-9212-3844 Academic Editor: Michael Wink Received: 25 April 2016; Accepted: 15 July 2016; Published: 22 July 2016 Abstract: In contrast to many tropical animals expanding southwards on the Australian coast concomitant with climate change, here we report a temperate endemic newly found in the tropics. Chromodorid nudibranchs are bright, colourful animals that rarely go unnoticed by divers and underwater photographers. The discovery of a new population, with divergent colouration is therefore significant. DNA sequencing confirms that despite departures from the known phenotypic variation, the specimen represents northern Goniobranchus splendidus and not an unknown close relative. Goniobranchus tinctorius represents the sister taxa to G. splendidus. With regard to secondary defences, the oxygenated terpenes found previously in this specimen are partially unique but also overlap with other G. splendidus from southern Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW). The tropical specimen from Mackay contains extracapsular yolk like other G. splendidus. This previously unknown tropical population may contribute selectively advantageous genes to cold-water species threatened by climate change.
    [Show full text]
  • Frontiers in Zoology Biomed Central
    Frontiers in Zoology BioMed Central Research Open Access Functional chloroplasts in metazoan cells - a unique evolutionary strategy in animal life Katharina Händeler*1, Yvonne P Grzymbowski1, Patrick J Krug2 and Heike Wägele1 Address: 1Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany and 2Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, California, 90032-8201, USA Email: Katharina Händeler* - [email protected]; Yvonne P Grzymbowski - [email protected]; Patrick J Krug - [email protected]; Heike Wägele - [email protected] * Corresponding author Published: 1 December 2009 Received: 26 June 2009 Accepted: 1 December 2009 Frontiers in Zoology 2009, 6:28 doi:10.1186/1742-9994-6-28 This article is available from: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/6/1/28 © 2009 Händeler et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Among metazoans, retention of functional diet-derived chloroplasts (kleptoplasty) is known only from the sea slug taxon Sacoglossa (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia). Intracellular maintenance of plastids in the slug's digestive epithelium has long attracted interest given its implications for understanding the evolution of endosymbiosis. However, photosynthetic ability varies widely among sacoglossans; some species have no plastid retention while others survive for months solely on photosynthesis. We present a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the Sacoglossa and a survey of kleptoplasty from representatives of all major clades. We sought to quantify variation in photosynthetic ability among lineages, identify phylogenetic origins of plastid retention, and assess whether kleptoplasty was a key character in the radiation of the Sacoglossa.
    [Show full text]
  • Australasian Nudibranchnews No.9 May 1999 Editors Notes Indications Are Readership Is Increasing
    australasian nudibranchNEWS No.9 May 1999 Editors Notes Indications are readership is increasing. To understand how much I’m Chromodoris thompsoni asking readers to send me an email. Your participation, comments and feed- Rudman, 1983 back is appreciated. The information will assist in making decisions about dis- tribution and content. The “Nudibranch of the Month” featured on our website this month is Hexabranchus sanguineus. The whole nudibranch section will be updated by the end of the month. To assist anNEWS to provide up to date information would authors include me on their reprint mailing list or send details of the papers. Name Changes and Updates This column is to help keep up to date with mis-identifications or name changes. An updated (12th May 1999) errata for Neville Coleman’s 1989 Nudibranchs of the South Pacific is available upon request from the anNEWS editor. Hyselodoris nigrostriata (Eliot, 1904) is Hypselodoris zephyra Gosliner & © Wayne Ellis 1999 R. Johnson, 1999. Page 33C Nudibranchs of the South Pacific, Neville Coleman 1989 A small Australian chromodorid with Page 238C Nudibranchs and Sea Snails Indo Pacific Field Guide. an ovate body and a fairly broad mantle Helmut Debilius Edition’s One (1996) and Edition Two (1998). overlap. The mantle is pale pink with a blu- ish tinged background. Chromodoris loringi is Chromodoris thompsoni. The rhinophores are a translucent Page 34C Nudibranchs of the South Pacific. N. Coleman 1989. straw colour with cream dashes along the Page 32 Nudibranchs. Dr T.E. Thompson 1976 edges of the lamellae. The gills are coloured similiarly. In a recent paper in the Journal of Molluscan Studies, Valdes & Gosliner This species was described by Dr Bill have synonymised Miamira and Orodoris with Ceratosoma.
    [Show full text]
  • ZM75-01 | Yonow 11-01-2007 15:03 Page 1
    ZM75-01 | yonow 11-01-2007 15:03 Page 1 Results of the Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition to Ambon (1990) Part 11. Doridacea of the families Chromodorididae and Hexa- branchidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Nudibranchia), including additional Moluccan material N. Yonow Yonow, N. Results of the Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition to Ambon (1990). Part 11. Doridacea of the families Chromodorididae and Hexabranchidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Nudibran- chia), including additional Moluccan material. Zool. Med. Leiden 75 (1), 24.xii.2001: 1-50, figs 1-12, colour plts 1-5— ISSN 0024-0672. Nathalie Yonow, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, U.K. (e-mail: [email protected]). Key words: Indonesia; Ambon; Chromodorididae; Hexabranchidae; Nudibranchia; Opisthobranchia; Gastropoda; systematics; taxonomy. Twenty-one species belonging to the family Chromodorididae and one species of Hexabranchus (Hexa- branchidae) are present in the 1990 Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition (RBE) collection. The 1996 Fauna Malesiana Marine Maluku Expedition (Mal) collected 43 lots of nudibranchs, mostly chromodorids: 17 species were identified, six of which were not represented in the RBE collection. A total of 35 chro- modorid species, belonging to nine genera, are described from Ambon and nearby localities. Four species are new to science, and seventeen species are recorded from Indonesian waters for the first time. Brief descriptions are given for the species which are well known, highlighting significant features, dif- ferentiating characters from similar species, and allowing recognition. A number of species are less well known and described and figured in more detail. The name Chromodoris marindica nom. nov. is proposed for Chromodoris reticulata sensu Eliot, 1904, and Farran, 1905 (not C.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract Volume
    ABSTRACT VOLUME August 11-16, 2019 1 2 Table of Contents Pages Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………...1 Abstracts Symposia and Contributed talks……………………….……………………………………………3-225 Poster Presentations…………………………………………………………………………………226-291 3 Venom Evolution of West African Cone Snails (Gastropoda: Conidae) Samuel Abalde*1, Manuel J. Tenorio2, Carlos M. L. Afonso3, and Rafael Zardoya1 1Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biologia Evolutiva 2Universidad de Cadiz, Departamento CMIM y Química Inorgánica – Instituto de Biomoléculas (INBIO) 3Universidade do Algarve, Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR) Cone snails form one of the most diverse families of marine animals, including more than 900 species classified into almost ninety different (sub)genera. Conids are well known for being active predators on worms, fishes, and even other snails. Cones are venomous gastropods, meaning that they use a sophisticated cocktail of hundreds of toxins, named conotoxins, to subdue their prey. Although this venom has been studied for decades, most of the effort has been focused on Indo-Pacific species. Thus far, Atlantic species have received little attention despite recent radiations have led to a hotspot of diversity in West Africa, with high levels of endemic species. In fact, the Atlantic Chelyconus ermineus is thought to represent an adaptation to piscivory independent from the Indo-Pacific species and is, therefore, key to understanding the basis of this diet specialization. We studied the transcriptomes of the venom gland of three individuals of C. ermineus. The venom repertoire of this species included more than 300 conotoxin precursors, which could be ascribed to 33 known and 22 new (unassigned) protein superfamilies, respectively. Most abundant superfamilies were T, W, O1, M, O2, and Z, accounting for 57% of all detected diversity.
    [Show full text]
  • Schmitt-2011-Thalassas.Pdf
    Thalassas, 27 (2): 225-238 An International Journal of Marine Sciences BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS IN RELATION TO LONG-TERM RETENTION OF ENDOSYMBIOTIC CHLOROPLASTS IN THE SEA SLUG Elysia timida (OPISTHOBRANCHIA, SACOGLOSSA) VALÉRIE SCHMITT (1, 2) & HEIKE WÄGELE (1) Key words: Sacoglossa, endosymbiosis, chloroplasts, retention, phototaxis, photobehavior. ABSTRACT in basins with running seawater and natural light through a glass window. Behavioral observations A comparative study was performed to analyze and PAM-measurements were performed in 4 time differences in evolutionary adaptations in two sea intervals in the course of an observation day in slug species, Elysia timida with long-term retention of daylight and dark-adapted conditions. Phototactic endosymbiotic chloroplasts and Thuridilla hopei with behavior was found to be present in both compared short-term retention of endosymbiotic chloroplasts. species, although the phototactic reaction was Both sacoglossan species stem from the same habitat more pronounced in E. timida. Phototaxis was also and show similar body sizes and structures with observed in juvenile E. timida before sequestration parapodial lobes whose position can be actively of first Acetabularia-chloroplasts, which indicates varied by the slugs. Ethological analyses were carried no direct current influence of the endosymbiotic out concerning the positioning of parapodia and chloroplasts. Other parameters, however, like the other photobehavioral parameters like phototaxis. In positioning of the parapodia, were observed to parallel, photosynthetic activity was measured with be significantly different between the long-term a Pulse Amplitude Modulated Fluorometer (PAM). and short-term storing species. While an adapted In total, 252 E. timida individuals and 63 T. hopei changing of the parapodia’s position in reaction to individuals were included in the analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Australasian Nudibranch News
    australasian nudibranchNEWS No.6 February 1999 Ceratosoma brevicuadatum Editors Notes Abraham, 1867 Helmut Debilius’s second edition of Nudibranchs and Sea Snails is now This species is endemic to the temper- available (see review page 4). Neville Coleman has supplied the updated spe- ate southern Australia, from Cape Byron in cies list for his Nudibranchs of the South Pacific (see page 3). For the full up- the east to Houtman Abrolhos in the west. It date, including the new distribution notes, send an email and we will forward a is the dominate species in Victorian waters. copy. The body and mantle colour can be The Port Stephens nudibranch list has drawn some attention, a film maker bright red, pink, orange, pale brown or yel- recently contacted us after seeing the list on our web site. We are now looking low and bear red, blue or purple spots often at how we can assist him in making a documentory on the Rocky Shore. All with white rings. The rhinophores and specimens are to be photographed and then released unharmed. tripinnate gills are the same colour as the Surfing the nudibranch sites recently I came across a site created by Lim mantle and foot. Yun Ping. Have a look at http://arl.nus.edu.sg/mandar/yp/EPIC/nudi.html The body is firm, high, slender and in- flexible. The mantle has a continuous wavy notal ridge which develops into a posterior Feedback mantle projection. This distinguishes it from In answer to Lindsay Warren's request for information: tropical species which have elongated and Helmut's book (Edition one): recurved projections.This species can grow page 139 (middle): is Philinopsis cyanea.
    [Show full text]
  • Describing Species
    DESCRIBING SPECIES Practical Taxonomic Procedure for Biologists Judith E. Winston COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © 1999 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data © Winston, Judith E. Describing species : practical taxonomic procedure for biologists / Judith E. Winston, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-231-06824-7 (alk. paper)—0-231-06825-5 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Biology—Classification. 2. Species. I. Title. QH83.W57 1999 570'.1'2—dc21 99-14019 Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America c 10 98765432 p 10 98765432 The Far Side by Gary Larson "I'm one of those species they describe as 'awkward on land." Gary Larson cartoon celebrates species description, an important and still unfinished aspect of taxonomy. THE FAR SIDE © 1988 FARWORKS, INC. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Universal Press Syndicate DESCRIBING SPECIES For my daughter, Eliza, who has grown up (andput up) with this book Contents List of Illustrations xiii List of Tables xvii Preface xix Part One: Introduction 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 3 Describing the Living World 3 Why Is Species Description Necessary? 4 How New Species Are Described 8 Scope and Organization of This Book 12 The Pleasures of Systematics 14 Sources CHAPTER 2. BIOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE 19 Humans as Taxonomists 19 Biological Nomenclature 21 Folk Taxonomy 23 Binomial Nomenclature 25 Development of Codes of Nomenclature 26 The Current Codes of Nomenclature 50 Future of the Codes 36 Sources 39 Part Two: Recognizing Species 41 CHAPTER 3.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Population of Chromodoris Annulata Eliot, 1904 (Mollusca: Opistobranchia: Chromodorididae) Off the Mediterranean Coast of Israel
    Aquatic Invasions (2011) Volume 6, Supplement 1: S91–S93 doi: 10.3391/ai.2011.6.S1.021 Open Access © 2011 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2011 REABIC Aquatic Invasions Records On the population of Chromodoris annulata Eliot, 1904 (Mollusca: Opistobranchia: Chromodorididae) off the Mediterranean coast of Israel Galia Pasternak1, Roni Ziv2, Gal Eyal3, Sigal Shefer4, Henk K. Mienis5, Oz Rittner5 and Bella S. Galil6* 1Marine and Coastal Environment Division, Ministry of Environmental Protection, POB 811, Haifa 31007, Israel 2 Jabotinsky 2, Bat Yam, Israel 3 The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Elat, P.O.B. 469, Elat 88103, Israel 4Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel 5The Steinhardt National Collections of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel 6National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research, POB 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel E-mail: [email protected] (GP), [email protected] (RZ), [email protected] (GE), [email protected] (SS), [email protected] (HKM), [email protected] (OZ), [email protected] (BSG) *Corresponding author Received: 9 August 2011 / Accepted: 14 August 2011 / Published online: 15 August 2011 Abstract The Indian Ocean opisthobranch Chromodoris annulata was first noted off the Mediterranean coast of Israel in October 2009. Early occasional sightings of single specimens were followed by increasingly frequent reports of clusters of specimens. Our findings point to the presence of an established population along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Key words: Chromodoris annulata, Mollusca, invasive species, Mediterranean, Israel Introduction Results and discussion Chromodoris annulata Eliot, 1904 is indigenous A photograph of C.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Study on Molecular Phylogeny of Sacoglossa and a Compilation of Their Food Organisms*
    Bonner zoologische Beiträge Band 55 (2006) Heft 3/4 Seiten 231–254 Bonn, November 2007 Preliminary study on molecular phylogeny of Sacoglossa and a compilation of their food organisms* Katharina HÄNDELER1) & Heike WÄGELE1),2) 1)Institut für Evolutionsbiologie und Ökologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany 2)Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany *Paper presented to the 2nd International Workshop on Opisthobranchia, ZFMK, Bonn, Germany, September 20th to 22nd, 2006 Abstract. The first molecular analysis of the Sacoglossa based on the 16Sr DNA gene (partial), with 39 species and 59 specimens analysed, is presented. A saturation of substitution is observed, as well as conflict in the data concerning cer- tain taxa. Therefore the phylogenetic relationship presented here has to be considered as preliminary. Many results are congruent with the analysis of JENSEN (1996) based on morphological characters. Plakobranchacea are monophyletic. Elysiella pusilla is nested within the genus Elysia and therefore synonymy of Elysiella with Elysia confirmed. The po- sition of Plakobranchus remains unclear, but a closer affinity to Elysia than to Thuridilla seems most likely. Major dif- ferences lie in the paraphyly of the Oxynoacea, but only few members of this taxon have been included. A compilation of available data on food algae is presented and the data are discussed under the light of the phylogenetic relationship presented here. Keywords. Opisthobranchia, molecular systematics, SplitsTree, Chlorophyta, evolution, 16S rDNA. 1. INTRODUCTION Sacoglossa is a small group of Opisthobranchia with about Sacoglossa is feeding nearly exclusively on siphonalean 250 to 300 described species (JE N S E N 1997a). Animals are or siphonocladalean Chlorophyta.
    [Show full text]
  • Spongivory by Nudibranchs on the Coast of Rio De Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil
    ©Zoologische Staatssammlung München/Verlag Friedrich Pfeil; download www.pfeil-verlag.de SPIXIANA 38 2 187-195 München, Dezember 2015 ISSN 0341-8391 Spongivory by nudibranchs on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil (Mollusca, Gastropoda) Thalita Belmonte, Juliana Alvim, Vinicius Padula & Guilherme Muricy Belmonte, T., Alvim, J., Padula, V. & Muricy, G. 2015. Spongivory by nudibranchs on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Spixiana 38 (2): 187-195. Nudibranch gastropods are carnivores and most dorid nudibranchs are spongi- vores, preying on a single or a few species of sponges. The feeding biology has important biological, ecological and evolutionary implications, and many charac- teristics of nudibranchs likely arose from co-evolution with diet organisms. Data on spongivory by dorid nudibranchs are available for many species from the Indo- Pacific, eastern Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea, but such information is scarce for the southwestern Atlantic. In this study we provide qualitative data on spongi- vory by dorid nudibranchs along the coast of Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil, including the identification of the species involved. A total of 94 spongi- vory events were observed between 12 nudibranch and 13 sponge species, greatly expanding our knowledge of predator-prey interactions. Among the sponges preyed upon, one species belongs to the class Homoscleromorpha (Plakina sp.) and 12 species to the class Demospongiae. Our observations show that spongivorous nudibranchs have a more diverse diet than previously thought. Additional observa- tions on a higher number of species from different biogeographic regions are needed for a better understanding of the feeding preferences of the diverse and ecologically important spongivorous dorid nudibranchs.
    [Show full text]
  • A Polyvalent and Universal Tool for Genomic Studies In
    A polyvalent and universal tool for genomic studies in gastropod molluscs (Heterobranchia: Tectipleura) Juan Moles1 and Gonzalo Giribet1 1Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences April 28, 2020 Abstract Molluscs are the second most diverse animal phylum and heterobranch gastropods present ~44,000 species. These comprise fascinating creatures with a huge morphological and ecological disparity. Such great diversity comes with even larger phyloge- netic uncertainty and many taxa have been largely neglected in molecular assessments. Genomic tools have provided resolution to deep cladogenic events but generating large numbers of transcriptomes/genomes is expensive and usually requires fresh material. Here we leverage a target enrichment approach to design and synthesize a probe set based on available genomes and transcriptomes across Heterobranchia. Our probe set contains 57,606 70mer baits and targets a total of 2,259 ultra-conserved elements (UCEs). Post-sequencing capture efficiency was tested against 31 marine heterobranchs from major groups, includ- ing Acochlidia, Acteonoidea, Aplysiida, Cephalaspidea, Pleurobranchida, Pteropoda, Runcinida, Sacoglossa, and Umbraculida. The combined Trinity and Velvet assemblies recovered up to 2,211 UCEs in Tectipleura and up to 1,978 in Nudipleura, the most distantly related taxon to our core study group. Total alignment length was 525,599 bp and contained 52% informative sites and 21% missing data. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference approaches recovered the monophyly of all orders tested as well as the larger clades Nudipleura, Panpulmonata, and Euopisthobranchia. The successful enrichment of diversely preserved material and DNA concentrations demonstrate the polyvalent nature of UCEs, and the universality of the probe set designed. We believe this probe set will enable multiple, interesting lines of research, that will benefit from an inexpensive and largely informative tool that will, additionally, benefit from the access to museum collections to gather genomic data.
    [Show full text]