2016/06/17 by Jessica A. Goodheart, Ryan A. Ellingson, Xochitl G. Vital +13 · 31 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Marine and coastal plant biology #Mollusks and Parasites Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1186/s41200-016-0048-z
openalex publication_date 2016/06/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The Bocas del Toro Archipelago is located off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Until now, only 19 species of heterobranch sea slugs have been formally reported from this area; this number constitutes a fraction of total diversity in the Caribbean region. Based on newly conducted fieldwork, we increase the number of recorded heterobranch sea slug species in Bocas del Toro to 82. Descriptive information for each species is provided, including taxonomic and/or ecological notes for most taxa. The collecting effort is also described and compared with that of other field expeditions in the Caribbean and the tropical Eastern Pacific. This increase in known diversity strongly suggests that the distribution of species within the Caribbean is still poorly known and species ranges may need to be modified as more surveys are conducted.