The opisthobranch gastropods (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from Venezuela: an annotated and illustrated inventory of species
Gutíerez, M.C.; Ortea, J.; Rivero, N.; Tucker, G.C.; Malaquias, M.A.E.; Narciso, S. (2015). The opisthobranch gastropods (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from Venezuela: an annotated and illustrated inventory of species. Zootaxa 4034(2): 201. https://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4034.2.1
In: Zootaxa. Magnolia Press: Auckland. ISSN 1175-5326; e-ISSN 1175-5334, more
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Mollusca, taxonomy, new records, southern Caribbean, benthic fauna, marine biodiversity |
| Authors | | Top |
- Gutíerez, M.C.
- Ortea, J.
- Rivero, N.
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- Tucker, G.C.
- Malaquias, M.A.E., more
- Narciso, S.
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| Abstract |
The Caribbean waters of Venezuela are composed by a large variety of habitats, with over 2800 km of coastline, islands, and islets. This area is a transitional zone between two main biogeographic provinces, the Caribbean and the Brazilian, separated by the fresh water outflows of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers, and is therefore expected to be an area of high species diversity. However, concerning the study of molluscs, Venezuela is probably the poorest known region in the Caribbean. The best compilation of opisthobranch species known in Venezuela was produced almost a decade ago, mentioning the occurrence of 57 species, plus seven determined only to genus level. In this work, 134 species are reported for Venezuela (71 are illustrated), representing about 40 % of the entire diversity of opisthobranchs known in the Caribbean. Among the species occurring in Venezuela, 49 have here the southern limit of their distribution range and only one the northern limit. Forty-six species are recorded for the first time to the country and one is a new record for the Caribbean Sea, namely Placida cremoniana. In addition, the distribution and ecology of the species are given based in literature and new data. |
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