A systematic inventory of 135 species of marine slugs (Heterobranchs), collected during the Madibenthos-2016 expedition, of the MNHN Paris, on the island of Martinique (Madinida) is presented. To the list of inventoried species do not add existing ones in the literature, so that the list is a real reflection of the effort made during the expedition, only take into account some species documented by the second author and previous publications made on material from Martinique and / or Madibenthos by one of the authors. All the illustrated species are live animals in their natural environment made by Yan Buske.

MADIBENTHOS

Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne Edwards, 1867), a crab native to the Indo-West Pacific, was introduced in the western Atlantic in the late 1980s, likely through transport of larvae in ballast water of ships. It has since been reported from North Carolina, southeastern coast of United States, to southern Brazil. This report from Martinique is the first from the Lesser Antilles. Specimens were collected during scuba-diving surveys conducted during March/April 2016 to study the population size, distribution, and habitat-use of this invader. Two hundred and thirteen transects, each 60 m2, were searched, in 2–15 m depths, in five coves of the southwestern peninsula of the island. We observed 150 individuals, of which 135 were collected. Most (89 %) specimens were mature with a male:female sex ratio of 2.4:1. Carapace widths ranged between 17.3 and 58.1 mm, with males significantly larger than females. Most crabs (93%) were found in dense seagrass beds of Halophila stipulacea, although a few (7%) were found on bare substrate with rocks and artificial mooring blocks. C. hellerii was absent from sand, coral with rocks and sponges, and mixed beds of algae and seagrass, possibly due to the presence of predators. The maximum observed density in the dense seagrass beds was 0.37 crab m-2. Predatory behavior of C. hellerii on other crabs was observed, suggesting this alien crab could alter existing community structure and functioning.

KARUBENTHOS 2012

Molecular and morphological evidence support the view that the widely distributed species Berthella stellata (Risso, 1826) is a species complex of at least eight different species. The closely related species Berthella plumula (Montagu, 1803), examined for comparison, is also a complex of two species; the name B. plumula is retained for the Atlantic species and the name Berthella perforata (Philippi, 1844) is proposed for the Mediterranean species. The B. stellata species complex forms a monophyletic group when the Eastern Pacific species Berthella strongi (MacFarland, 1966) is included. Based on a critical review of the literature, the name Berthella stellata is retained for the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean species, and the name Berthella pellucida (Pease, 1860) is resurrected for a species found in the Hawaiian Islands. Two new species from the Caribbean region (Berthella nebula sp. nov., Berthella vialactea sp. nov.) and one from the Eastern Pacific (Berthella andromeda sp. nov.) are described herein, but the status of the Brazilian species B. tupala Er. Marcus, 1957 remains uncertain. Two possible new species from the Eastern Pacific, represented by one specimen each, were recovered in the phylogenetic analyses but not formally described. It is hypothesized that additional species of this complex may occur in other parts of the Indo-Pacific tropics, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

KOUMAC 2.1

A systematic inventory of the sea slugs collected during the expedition Karubenthos-2012, in Guadeloupe island (Karukera), is herein presented. It includes a total of 117 species; 97 Opisthobranchia and 20 Sacoglossa; 85 of them are recorded for the first time. Previous records of other species not collected in the campaign are added to the catalog, which includes a total of 127 species, 42 of them illustrated. Additionally, a new species of Dendrodoris Ehrenberg, 1831, is described and specimens of Paradoris indecora (Marcus, 1970) and three different species of Doto Oken, 1815 collected for the first time in Guadeloupe, are studied in detail: Doto awapa Ortea, 2001, Doto curere Ortea, 2001 and Doto torrelavega Ortea & Caballer, 2005.

KARUBENTHOS 2012

A systematic list including 23 species of sea slugs, 18 opisthobranchia and 5 saco-glossa, recorded for the first time in Guadeloupe Island, is herein presented. These species were collected during the expedition Karubenthos-2012 (may and December 2012) hosted by the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Additionally, 1 new genus and 8 new species (6 opisthobranchia and 2 sacoglossa) are described. With this contribution, the inventory of the sea slugs from Guadeloupe raises to 149 species, 9 of them newly described.

KARUBENTHOS 2012