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New records of marine molluscs from Saba, Caribbean Netherlands

Authors: S.J. Hewitt, B.E. Picton, A. DuPont, T.M. Zahner, R.B. Salvador
Basteria, 85 (1): 59-72

Abstract

Repeated scuba diving visits to Saba, Caribbean Netherlands, from 2011 to 2020 allowed us to add 51 species of marine molluscs to the island’s species checklist, in an attempt to get closer to having a full list of all the species that live around the island. Th e new records include 40 gastropods (over half of which are sea slugs), seven bivalves, one scaphopod and three cephalopods. The records of the following species represent large increments in their geographic distributions: Anetarca piutaensis (Ortea, Caballer & Espinosa, 2003), Coryphellina hamanni (Gosliner, 1994), Cyphoma cassidyae Lorenz, 2020, Tenellia cf. luciae (Valdés, Medrano & Bhave, 2016), Elysia cornigera Nuttall, 1990, Felimare acriba (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967), Lomanotus phiops Er. Marcus, 1957, Okenia picoensis Paz-Sedano, Ortigosa & Pola, 2017, Polycera sp. 2 sensu Valdés et al. (2006), Thuridilla malaquita Ortea & Buske, 2014. The introduced nudibranch Doriprismatica sedna (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967) was also recorded; its presence on Saba in 2014 (and on St. Eustatius in 2015) is indicative of a rapid expansion in the Caribbean. All records are backed by photographs which were taken, in situ, by T.M. Zahner, and which have been uploaded to the online platform iNaturalist. This has the advantage of simultaneously making the information available to researchers and to the broader public.

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