Document of bibliographic reference 325637

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Sea slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Heterobranchia): the other inhabitants of the city of Barcelona (Spain)

Abstract

Sea slugs in the broad sense (until recently called «opisthobranchs» and now within the Heterobranchia subclass of the Gastropoda), have aroused the interest of naturalists since they began to be studied by the end of the XVIII century. Their colorful and varied shapes make them very attractive to be studied and photographed. Numerous are the published works written to spread the knowledge of the biodiversity of these molluscs in all marine regions, however very few studies have been carried out to know these species that inhabit highly anthropized areas, such as the interior of commercial ports, marinas, artificial substrates or the coastal areas of large cities. Here are the results of a biodiversity study of marine heterobranchs conducted along the coast of the city of Barcelona (Spain). Numerous specimens of 73 species of sea slugs have been found, belonging to 5 orders: 4 Aplysiida, 5 Cephalaspidea, 3 Runcinida, 47 Nudibranchia and 4 Pleurobranchida, and 1 superorder: 10 Sacoglossa, including two alien species, Polycerella emertoni and Bursatella leachii, of wide circumtropical distribution. Our work proves that new habitats, created with the construction of marinas, breakwaters or submerged rock bars, are being colonized by seaweeds and marine invertebrates that set onto these artificial structures. Surprisingly our study found a high biodiversity of marine heterobranchs, even in waters with abundant organic matter and subjected to high anthropic pressure.

Bibliographic citation

Parera, A.; Pontes, M.; Salvador, X.; Ballesteros, M. (2020). Sea slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Heterobranchia): the other inhabitants of the city of Barcelona (Spain). Butlleti de la Institucio Catalana d'Historia Natural 84: 75-100

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true