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Sacoglossa from Cape Peron, Western Australia

Authors:
1
ISSN 1834-4259 NO. 162 JULY, 2017
Triphoridae in northern New South Wales –
diversity and new records.
Lynton D. Stephens Email: lyntonstephens@gmail.com
The coastline of northern New South Wales possesses a
high diversity of molluscs and was an apt venue for the
MALSOC conference in Nov-Dec 2015. The faunal
composition of the area is largely a mix of three groups:
1). temperate Australian species at or near their northern
end of range; 2). incursive tropical species, and 3). east-
ern seaboard endemics. North of Coffs Harbour the
fauna is quite different from that seen even around Syd-
ney, with, as one might expect, a much higher diversity
and proportion of tropical species present.
Emblematic of this is the family Triphoridae, a group of
generally sinistral gastropods which feed on sponges.
Temperate Australian species were reviewed by Marshall
(1983), who imaged most using SEM. A very useful
guide was published more recently by Beechey (2015),
which contains the first published colour images for
many named taxa. Apart from those references, addi-
-tional sources of information on south-eastern Austral-
ian species include Wilson (1993), Stephens & Vafiadis
(2015) and Stephens (2015).
Between 2008 and 2015 I was fortunate to spend sev-
eral months on the northern NSW coast and was able
to collect and analyse some fairly extensive samples of
shellgrit. Upon the publication of Beechey (2015), I
realised that several identified species had not been
previously recorded from NSW, and/or not illustrated
by Beechey. A few short notes on these and other spe-
cies are provided below, including 8 new records for
NSW. The presence of unrecognised Triphoridae in
the north of the state is no surprise; nevertheless, this
information may be of benefit to anyone sampling or
surveying in the area. Hopefully the present article can
function as an adjunct to, and extension of, the work
of Beechey (2015). (continued on page 9)
Northern New South Wales Triphoridae, Plate 1. A. Monophorus monachus (Hervier, 1898), Minnie Water
(LSC-4074); B. Obesula turricula ? (Hervier, 1897), Minnie Water (LSC-4070); C. Cautotriphora hervieri
(Kosuge, 1962), Minnie Water (LSC-2651); D. Costatotriphora iniqua (Jousseaume, 1884), Minnie Water (LSC-
2975); E. Coriophora ustulata (Hervier, 1898), Mullaway (LSC-3166); F. Mastonia millepunctata (Kosuge,
1962), Minnie Water (LSC-3337); G. Subulophora rutilans (Hervier, 1898), Minnie Water (LSC-4068); H. Mas-
tonia vulpina Hinds, 1843, Mullaway (LSC-3271). Scale bars: 1 mm. (All photos by Lynton Stephens).
2
Society information
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Newsletter
Editor: Platon Vafiadis.
Email: newsletter@malsocaus.org
The deadline for articles for the next issue of the
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Note: This publication is not deemed to be valid
for taxonomic purposes. (See article 8.2 in the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature,
4th Edition.)
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Communal egg laying in a temperate
Australian buccinid snail.
Lamarck, 1816 is a variably patterned,
common and widely distributed temperate Australian gas-
tropod. In summer it has been observed to lay egg cap-
sules communally in significant numbers under littoral
rocks, forming an impressive sight. The flask-shaped, 5-6
mm long capsules each contain 6-14 yellow eggs which all
develop (“although some may feed on others”) and
emerge as crawling juveniles; in addition to rocks, capsules
may also be attached to each other or to algae (Smith,
Black & Shepherd, 1989).
Text & photo: P. Vafiadis
Cominella lineolata with egg capsules in the rocky
littoral zone. San Remo, Victoria, 5 November, 1998
3
Barry Wilson passed away on the 12 June 2017. Our
MSA records indicate Barry was one of the longest-
standing members of the society with over 60 years of
involvement. Volume 1 of the journal (September
1957) has an alphabetical list of members - the last
name on the list is Mr. Barry Wilson, 199 Hensman
Road, Subiaco, Western Australia (WA).
Barry was a truly brilliant scientific pioneer in a frontier
region of the world. Born in the southwest of WA near
Busselton, he collected and sold seashells to put himself
through school. He received his PhD from University
of Western Australia (UWA) in 1965 and spent a year
(1964-65) as a Fulbright Scholar and Research Fellow at
the School of Evolutionary Biology, Harvard Universi-
ty, USA. He then returned to Australia and was ap-
pointed Curator of Molluscs at the Western Australian
Museum (WAM), later becoming Head of Science in
1967. Barry began to develop the mollusc collection,
with WA Naturalist material forming the basis for the
first major collection at the WAM. He was responsible
for organising important WAM expeditions around the
coasts of WA, including deep dredging off Rottnest
(Bluefin 1962, 1965) and the southwest (Diamantina
1963, 1972, 1976), expeditions to Abrolhos (1963) and
later the Crown of Thorns Survey in the Dampier Ar-
chipelago (1970s). He was involved in other significant
expeditions further afield including the Mariel King
expeditions to northern WA and Indonesia, as well as
trips to Puerto Rico and Eastern Polynesia (Marquesas,
Tuamotus and Pitcairn). There are thousands of lots in
the WAM mollusc collections attributed to Barry, but
also across other taxonomic groups, attesting to the
numerous team efforts that he was instrumental in gal-
vanizing in the region.
After working at the WAM, Barry held positions as
Director of the Museum of Victoria (now Museums
Victoria) (1979-1984) and Director of Nature Conser-
vation in the Department of Conservation and Land
Management in WA (1985-1999). In 1994, Barry was
responsible for “The Wilson Report” (A Representative
Marine Reserve System for Western Australia, Report
of the Marine Parks and Reserves Selection Working
Group) when he was head of the Marine Parks and
Reserves Authority. It has been suggested that this re-
port provided the impetus for the creation of the Ma-
rine Parks in WA. Two of the State’s first marine parks,
Ningaloo and Shark Bay, which were created under
Barry’s term as Director of Nature Conservation, are
now World Heritage listings. He once told me that
“achieving World Heritage listing for these two very
special places were the biggest achievements of my life
(so far - who knows what comes next?!)”. He was active
in service. Besides his involvement with MSA, he was a
Research Associate of the WAM and an Honorary Life
Fellow of Museums Victoria, an Honorary Research
Fellow at UWA, a Trustee of the Worldwide Fund for
Nature, and a member of the IUCN Commission on
National Parks and Protected Areas.
He leaves an impressive publication legacy, grounded in
malacology, including seven books on Australian ma-
rine fauna and biogeography. These include early works,
such as (with Gillett) first published in
1972, which inspired a generation of molluscan biolo-
gists in Australia. This later evolved into the two vol-
ume (1993-4, cover of Vol. 1,
1993, pictured below), which was an enormous accom-
plishment in the then early days of guide books, with its
beautiful images, salient biological information and dis-
tributional records-
works still significant
today. Later volumes
bring together not only
his faunal interests,
which extended beyond
molluscs, but also his
vast experience and love
of WA, which moved
him to become active in
conservation and the
protection of significant
areas. These include
(2013, pictured on p.4),
Dr. Barry Wilson—in Memoriam
Lisa Kirkendale with assistance from Corey Whisson, Western Australian Museum
Department of Aquatic Zoology, Molluscs Email: lisa.kirkendale@museum.wa.gov.au
Loisette Marsh, Barry Wilson (centre) and
Barry Hutchins, 1970s
4
and his frank assessment
of marine reserves in WA
in
(2016).
I feel lucky to have spent
time with him recently at
the WAM and at his
home discussing molluscs,
biogeography and ambi-
tious workshop plans for
the future. I was just get-
ting to know Barry and I
feel that I still had so much to learn from him when he
passed away. It was not enough time, though truthfully,
I would have needed many years. Barry was interested
in all molluscs, including land snails, with early work in
the Kimberley rainforests in the 70s. Later work con-
centrated on cowries, cardiids and volutes; however, he
had a lifelong passion for mytilids. We were working
together on the molecular systematics of Lithophaga and
co-evolutionary potential with corals; this work will be
dedicated to him once complete.
His contribution and support to the disciplines of mala-
cology and nature conservation, both nationally and
internationally, are truly impressive and Barry was well
respected by all who worked with him. Over the last
month, WAM staff have received condolence notes
from around the world - his generosity, knowledge, ide-
as and plans were widely appreciated. However, it is his
inscription in the copy of the monumental accomplish-
ment The Biogeography of the Australian Northwest Shelf that
he donated to the WAM library that best sums up the
lovely and humble person I knew, simply, “For the use
of all my friends in WAM. I hope it is useful”. He will
be deeply missed.
Errata
Thanks to Mr. Chris Rowley, Collection Manager
at Museum Victoria, for pointing out that there is
an error in the stated registration number of
Trivellona excelsa in the article by Stephens
(‘Unexpected live records of Trivellona excelsa Ire-
dale, 1931 from off the Victorian coast’, MSA
Newsletter 161, April 2017, p. 9). The registration
number of the specimen illustrated should have
read NMV F161091, not NMV F169435 as cited
in the newsletter.
~~~~~~~~
There is an error in the caption to Figure 2 (page
5) in the article ‘The genus notes on
four species of Triphoridae from south-eastern
Australia’ by Stephens & Vafiadis (MSA Newslet-
ter No. 153, January 2015). The caption states that
Figures 2C and 2D, both showing
depict the same animal, of shell length 11.0
mm, from Eagle’s Nest, near Inverloch, Victoria,
under lower littoral rocks, 15 March, 2008.
This data actually applies only to Figure 2C, except
for the shell length (which was 5 mm) and the sta-
tion (it was sieved from silt underneath a lower
littoral rock).
Figure 2D is , shell length 11.0
mm, from Inverloch, Victoria, under a lower litto-
ral rock, 26 March, 2007.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Scheduled release of Australian
Land Snails (Vol. 2) in late 2017
The long-awaited Volume 2 of ‘Australian Land
Snails’ by Stanisic, Shea, Potter & Griffiths is due
to be released in October-November, 2017. Vol-
ume 1 covered the eastern Australian fauna, and
Volume 2 will cover the southern, central and
western species.
See also Dr. John Stanisic’s website, https://
thesnailwhisperer.com (from which the above
image of the book’s front cover was taken) and
also his blog at https://factsaboutsnails.com
5
Cape Peron, some 30km south of Perth, Western Aus-
tralia, is a limestone promontory that shelters the vast
Cockburn Sound to the north from prevailing swell
from the southwest. Numerous factors contribute to
the continued erosion of the Cape’s soft limestone and
this is aided by an abundance of boring urchins that
continuously excavate vast sections of the intertidal
reef. As a result, conditions suited to the formation of
tidal pools are not favourable and in times of large swell
and strong winds, as was the case on 23 March 2017,
little calm water was available, a must when taking su-
per-macro photographs in shallow water. Indeed, find-
ing cryptic and diminutive sea slugs (which most are) by
snorkel requires optimal conditions. Nevertheless, the
topography of a small section of the cape, aided by an
abundance of talus from a recent cliff collapse, provid-
ed a small area of calm water, albeit only one metre
deep and only a few metres across, at the peak of the
diel high tide.
On first inspection, the pool, glaringly white, appeared
devoid of life, save for a few foraging fishes that had
migrated with the rising tide. The presence of turnable
rocks which so often promise success when looking for
sea slugs, failed to support much sessile biota. However,
the permanently submerged parts of the pool, in some
places perhaps only 30 cm deep at low tide, did support
small areas of algal turf and Zonaria sp.
The Sacoglossa (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) are a diverse
order of sea slugs exhibiting a variety of body forms and
shell structures. The order is united by the presence of a
radula with a single row of teeth adapted to allow sucto-
rial feeding of the cell contents of marine algae. In
Western Australia (WA) there are dozens of species of
Sacoglossa (Wells & Bryce, 1993), many of which are
undescribed, although in Jensen & Wells (1990), only
seven were reported from the south.
The genus Risso, 1818 is the most diverse group
(Gosliner, Valdés, & Behrens, 2015) in the family Plako-
branchidae, which itself is the largest family of the Saco-
glossa (Jensen, 1996). As specialised herbivores, some
are able to sequester photosynthetic chloroplasts
Sacoglossa from Cape Peron, Western Australia
Matt Nimbs, Southern Cross University, National Marine Science Centre.
Email: matthew.nimbs@scu.edu.au
Figure 1. The constantly moving waters of the south-west coast of Cape Peron, WA.
Photo by Marc at Metrotrekker.com (used with permission).
6
from their dietary algae and incorporate these into their
tissues, a process known as kleptoplasty (Maeda, Kajita,
Maruyama & Hirano, 2010). The chloroplasts thereafter
provide a source of nourishment (Greene, 1970).
The small quantities of algal turf with its complement
of fine, thread like green algae in an apparently barren
pool at Cape Peron was enough to sustain a community
of sacoglossan sea slugs: three species in the family
Plakobranchidae and one from the Limapontiidae.
Jensen, 1993 was reported to occur in
Western Australian from Shark Bay to Rottnest Island
(Jensen, 1993, 1997; Rudman, 2004) although a speci-
men was collected by Richard Willan near Townsville,
QLD in 1995 (MAGNT, 1995). At Cape Peron, a 9
mm specimen was observed crawling on sp.
algae (Figure 3, page 7).
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 ), syn.
(Angas, 1865) (Jensen & Wells, 1990), has a
circum-Australian distribution (Nimbs & Smith, 2017)
and in some locations it can be abundant (pers. obs). It
is readily recognised by the black rhinophore tips, black
edged parapodia and a central black line on the head
(Jensen & Wells, 1990). With such a wide distribution, it
was no surprise to see this 12 mm specimen (Figure 4)
page 7) among its less common congeners at Cape
Peron.
Next to the , crawling amongst the sand
and turf, was a 10 mm sp. with tiny black speck-
les and sparse, vivid, sly-blue spots (Figure 5, page 8).
Figure 2. Map of Cape Peron, WA. The location of the small, shallow rock pool is indicated by a dotted line.
7
Figure 3. Elysia thompsoni, 9 mm crawl length on Zonaria sp. algae
Figure 4. Elysia australis, 12 mm crawl length among turf algae
Originally described from the Mediterranean, the
limapontiid sacoglossan (Trinchese,
1893) has since been found to have a circumtropical
distribution (SURG, 2014). Whilst global distribution
records are patchy, there are numerous observations on
the east Australian coast (ALA, 2015; Nimbs & Smith,
2017). Its presence in the eastern Indian Ocean is poor-
ly known, however a recent, first observation from Sin-
gapore confirms its presence there (Toh, 2016). Known
to consume filamentous algae, and occasionally seen in
large numbers where conditions and food sources are
suitable (pers. obs. in northern N.S.W.), the fresh algal
growth at Cape Peron was conducive to the settlement
and development of this species there.
Although is mentioned in Coleman
(2015) as occurring in the state, there are no location
details. A 9 mm specimen was the only specimen in the
pool and exhibits the characteristic external features
(Figure 6, page 8). This is one of the few observations
of from WA; the earliest observation may
be of a single specimen at Woodman Point Jetty by
Chandy De Wit in July, 2013 (pers. comm.).
References
ALA. (2015). Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved March 31, 2017,
from http://www.ala.org.au
Coleman, N. (2015).
(New). Springwood, Qld.:
Neville Coleman’s Underwater Geographic.
8
Gosliner, T. M., Valdés, Á., & Behrens, D. W. (2015).
Jacksonville, Florida,
USA: New World Publications.
Greene, R. W. (1970). Symbiosis in sacoglossan opisthobranchs:
functional capacity of symbiotic chloroplasts. , 7
(2), 138142.
Jensen, K. R. (1993). Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) from
Rottnest Island and central Western Australia. In:
Western Aus-
tralian Museum.
Jensen, K. R. (1996). Phylogenetic systematics and classification of
the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia).
, 91122.
Jensen, K. R. (1997). Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opistobranchia) from
the Houtman Albrolhos Islands and central Western Australia.
Jensen, K. R., & Wells, F. E. (1990). Sacoglossa (= Ascoglossa)
(Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) from southern Western Australia.
In:
Western Australian Museum, Perth.
Maeda, T., Kajita, T., Maruyama, T., & Hirano, Y. (2010). Molecular
phylogeny of the Sacoglossa, with a discussion of gain and loss
of kleptoplasty in the evolution of the group.
, 219(1), 1726.
MAGNT. (1995). Mollusc: P007311 . Museum and
Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Retrieved April 23, 2017,
from http://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/0129eecd-b8de-
4e04-9599-8d264bc8720e
Nimbs, M. J., & Smith, S. D. A. (2017). An illustrated inventory of
the sea slugs of New South Wales, Australia (Gastropoda: Heter-
obranchia). , 128(2), 44
113. http://doi.org/dx.doi.org/10.1071/RS16011
Rudman, W. B. (2004). . Retrieved April 23, 2017,
from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/elysthom
SURG. (2014). Solitary Islands Underwater Research Group. Re-
trieved April 23, 2017, from http://www.surg.org.au/
Toh, C. H. (2016). New Singapore record of sea slug
. , 58.
Wells, F. E., & Bryce, C. W. (1993).
Perth: Western Australian Museum.
Figure 5. Elysia sp. 10 mm crawl length amongst sand and filamentous algae.
Figure 6. Placida cremoniana, 9 mm crawl length.
9
Triphoridae in northern New South Wales – diversity and new records (continued from page 1)
Even in the cool waters of Victoria, the Triphoridae are
a prolific group, with up to 18 species found at a single
locality (San Remo). However the numbers observed in
northern NSW are higher still. The most diverse site
sampled (Minnie Water) yielded 35 species (27 identi-
fied and 8 unidentified). Based on my own collecting
and the records of Marshall (1983), the coastline be-
tween Yamba and Coffs Harbour possesses at least 50
species (35 identified and at least 15 unidentified). Fur-
ther intensive sampling in various habitats (shoreline
grit assemblages, inshore reefs, offshore islands and
continental shelf) would undoubtedly extend these
numbers further. Additional unidentified and unnamed
specimens likely exist in museum collections.
Moving north into truly tropical waters, the family Tri-
phoridae becomes prodigiously diverse. Marshall (1983:
1) noted at least 80 species from a single subtidal sam-
ple taken at Euston Reef, Queensland. A mega-
sampling project at Koumac in New Caledonia revealed
174 species from a 294 km² site (Bouchet et. al. 2002),
with a similar survey at Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu yielding
a massive 259 species from 450 km² (Albano et. al.,
2011). The tally for a 2004 survey of a 150 km² site at
Panglao, Philippines, has not yet been finalised, but is
likely to be enormous since over 6000 mollusc species
were sampled in total (de Forges et. al., 2009).
Species notes:
(fig. I): A wide-
spread tropical species, for which Marshall (1983) re-
ported one specimen from NSW waters, the type of
Notosinister grandiosa Laseron, 1954 (synonymised), col-
lected from Woolgoolga. It was not featured by
Beechey (2015). A second NSW specimen was found at
Angourie (fig. I). The species has been figured by Ha-
segawa (2000) and Poppe (2008).
(fig. E): This species
is a new record for NSW. A distinctively-pigmented and
widespread tropical species. The brown nodules on spi-
rals 4 and 5 of the final whorl, plus the characters of the
apex, render it easy to recognise. It has been figured by
Cernohorsky (1978), Hasegawa (2000) and Poppe
(2008). An image of a syntype (from Lifou) is available
at WORMS. At least 8 specimens were found (3 intact)
from Minnie Water and Mullaway.
(fig. C): This
species is also newly recorded from NSW. Very distinc-
tive on account of the orange and lavender pigmenta-
tion and the twin spiral threads on the protoconch. The
teleoconch surface has numerous fine interstitial spiral
threads. The species has been figured by Cernohorsky
(1978), Hasegawa (2000) (in the genus Monophorus) and
Poppe (2008). A living specimen was photographed at
Brunswick River, NSW (see Riek 2013a, left-hand shell
in the uppermost image). At least 8 specimens were col-
lected, one well preserved, all from Minnie Water.
(fig. D):
This species has already been reported from NSW by
Marshall (1983) (in the genus Tetraphora, 3 specimens
between Angourie and Sydney), and Beechey (2015).
According to Marshall (1983), there are two separate
colour forms (kawamurai and iniqua). Beechey (2016)
illustrated a form in which the brown pigmentation is
restricted to 4 fine, interstitial lines bordering spirals 1
and 5. I found the species to be not rare in northern
NSW (5 intact or nearly intact specimens collected, plus
Northern New South Wales Triphoridae, Plate 2. I. Aclophora xystica (Jousseaume, 1884), Angourie (LSC-
2547); J. Bouchetriphora aspergata (Laseron, 1958), Mullaway (LSC-2549); K. Unidentified, Minnie Water (LSC
-4063); L. Unidentified, Mullaway (LSC-3276); M. Mastonia funebris Jousseaume, 1884, Minnie Water (LSC-
4069); N. Unidentified, Minnie Water (LSC-3335); O. Unidentified, Angourie (LSC-2980); P. Hedleytriphora
innotabilis (Hedley, 1903), Mullaway (LSC-2731). Scale bars: 1 mm. (All photos by Lynton Stephens).
10
other fragments). All specimens exhibited solid pig-
mentation across spirals 1, 4 and 5, matching the shell
figured by Hasegawa (2000).
(fig. M): A single
example was found at Minnie Water on 14 September
2013 (LSC-4069), comprising a new record for NSW.
Fortunately the shell is also in superb condition. The
species was described from New Caledonia and an im-
age of a high quality syntype is available on WORMS.
(fig. F): At
least 9 specimens were found at Angourie, Minnie Wa-
ter & Mullaway, representing first records for NSW.
The species is figured by Hasegawa (2000) and Poppe
(2008). Mastonia maenades Jousseaume, 1898, described
from the Red Sea, appears to be similar, if not conspe-
cific (a syntype is figured by WORMS).
(fig. A): A
new record for NSW, although it is rather common,
with many dozens collected from localities as far south
as Mullaway. A decollate syntype is figured on
WORMS. It is also figured by Hasegawa (2000) and
Poppe (2008). Distinctive characteristics include twin
spiral ribs on the protoconch, a slightly darker hue on
spiral 2 and pale whorls on the upper teleoconch. Su-
perficially similar to Aclophoropsis xystica (Jousseame,
1884) and Monophorus angasi (Crosse & Fischer, 1865),
but should be easily distinguishable.
(not figured): This spe-
cies, which exhibits a vivid lavender teleoconch, is a
tentative new record for NSW based on 2 slightly de-
graded specimens from Minnie Water and a living spec-
imen photographed at Hastings Point by Riek (2013b,
uppermost shell in the right hand column). See also
Hasegawa (2000) and Poppe (2008).
(fig. B): Several
fragments of this species were obtained from north of
Coffs Harbour, plus an intact specimen (fig. B, LSC-
4070) from Minnie Water. A decollate syntype is fig-
ured on WORMS, whilst intact specimens have been
figured by Cernohorsky (1978) and Hasegawa (2000).
The latter reference notes that “Placement of the spe-
cies in this genus is tentative.” There is a strong superfi-
cial resemblance to the temperate Australian species
Aclophoropsis festiva (A. Adams, 1851), which was report-
ed as far north as Gabo Island by Marshall (1983).
Aclophoropsis mcmichaeli (Kosuge, 1962) is also a very
similar species; indeed, I am not entirely clear on how
to distinguish between this and O. turricula. A. mcmichaeli
is figured in Cernohorsky (1978) (as Cautor mcmichaeli)
and Hasegawa (2000). The figure of Cautor maculosa
mcmichaeli by Poppe (2008) appears extremely similar to
O. turricula, and the protoconch characters do not seem
a particularly good match for the figure of A. mcmichaeli
by Hasegawa (2000).
(fig. G): A syno-
nym of this species, Notosinister stramentia Laseron, 1954,
was described from Port Stephens, however no other
NSW specimens were cited by Marshall (1983) and the
species was not figured by Beechey (2015). Several
damaged specimens were found north of Coffs Har-
bour, between Angourie and Mullaway, plus one well-
preserved, intact specimen from Minnie Water (fig. G).
The species has been figured by Marshall (1983), Wil-
son (1993), Poppe (2008) and Hasegawa (2000).
(fig. H): This is another
widespread Indo-Pacific species, figured by Hasegawa
(2000), which is a new record for NSW. Several speci-
mens were found at Mullaway and Minnie Water, in-
cluding one almost intact (fig. H).
Others: and
were recorded from
the Solitary Islands, NSW, by Marshall (1983), but are
absent from Beechey (2015).
All material studied and illustrated is held in the au-
thor’s collection, with database numbers given in the
captions (LSC = L. Stephens collection).
References:
Albano, P.G., Sabelli, P. & Bouchet, P. (2011). The challenge of
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Article
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Following the successful completion of the PANGLAO 2004 expedition, PANGLAO 2005 was organized to fill in the gap to explore and research the deep-sea fauna of the Bohol and Sulu Seas between 18 May 2005 and 3 June 2005. Methods used on board the Philippines fisheries research vessel MV DA-BFAR are recorded and results arising from the expedition are discussed.
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Philippine Marine Mollusks Vol I, II and III are setting the modern standards for Marine Indo Pacific Mollusks in general. They are a summary of the confirmed knowledge on Philippine marine mollusks and cover all groups of mollusks, including nudibranches. The books cover over 3600 species and count about 10,000 photographs on approximately 850 color plates in A4 format. Hundreds of species are shown alive with underwater photographs. The Volume covers all families from the Patellogastropoda down to the Cerithiopsidae. Authors in this volume, with their respective families, are: * Axel Alf : Architectonicidae and Turbinidae. * Patrick Anseeuw: Pleurotomariidae. * Alan Beu: Bursidae, Personidae and Ranellidae. * Philippe Bouchet: Abyssochrysidae, dialidae, Litiopidae, Pachychilida, Plesiotrochidae, Scaliolidae, Skeneidae. * Lenny Brown: Epitoniidae. * Tom Eichhorst: Neritidae. * Dirk Fehse: Eratoidae, Ovulidae, Pediculariidae, Triviidae. * Daniel L. Geiger: Anatomidae, Haliotidae, Scissurellidae. * Yoshihiro Goto: Pleurotomariidae. * Frederick Govaert: Geology of the Philippines. * Michael Hollmann: Naticidae. * Kurt Kreipl: Cassidae, Turbinidae, Xenophoridae. * Gijs Kronenberg: Personidae, Rostellariidae, Seraphsidae, Strombidae. * Pierre Lozouet: Batillariidae, Planaxidae, Potamididae. * James McLean: Liotiidae. * Kevin Monsecour: Angariidae. * Luc Segers: Ranellidae. * Ellen Strong: Abyssochrysidae, Atlantidae, Cerithiidae, Dialidae, Litiopidae Pachychilidae, Plesiotrochidae. * Sheila Tagaro: Calliostomatidae, Cerithiidae, Chilodontidae, Seguenziidae, Stomatiidae, Trochidae. * Noel Vandenberghe: Geology of the Philippines. * Chris Vos: Tonnidae. * Anders Warèn: Eulimidae. * All other families: Guido T. Poppe. A short bibliography and a practical index close the Volume I. The work is indispensable in the basic conchological library and is a starting point for research on almost all families. The Volume I is made in high quality paper and is hardbound. It weights 3.5 kg. http://www.conchbooks.de/?t=53&u=30007&bookgroup=&subgroup=
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Earlier studies in the tropical Indo-Pacific have grossly underestimated the richness of macrofauna species at spatial scales relevant to conservation and management as a result of insufficient collecting and sorting effort. A massive collecting effort involving 400 day-persons at 42 discrete stations on a 295-km2 site on the west coast of New Caledonia, south-west Pacific, revealed 2738 species of marine molluscs. This is several times the number of species recorded from any area of comparable extension anywhere in the world. Spatial and habitat heterogeneity is high with 32% of the species collected at a single station. With 20% of the species represented by single specimens (0.4% of all catches), rare species make up a considerable proportion of the fauna. This justifies the parallel drawn between coral reefs and rain forests in terms of species diversity. The real richness of many soft-bodied marine taxa is probably underestimated, as evidenced by the fact that 28.5% of the mollusc species present at the study site are represented in the samples only by empty shells. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 75, 421–436.
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Full-text available
Although molluscs feature prominently in the semi-popular and academic literature on marine biodiversity, field surveys largely ignore the small and rare species that form the majority of marine molluscan diversity. As a result of a massive effort to sample the benthic molluscs of a complex tropical coastal environment, 23,238 gastropod specimens representing 259 species of Triphoridae—a family with most adult species ranging from 2 to 10mm—were obtained from a 45,000 hectares study area off the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. Most species are represented by fewer than 20 specimens and, despite the intensity of the sampling effort, 13% of the species are unique singletons. Spatial heterogeneity was high: out of 416 sampling events, 187 contained triphorids, and 42% of the species occurred at fewer than 5 stations. Most species were small (68% below 5mm) or very small (22% below 3mm). A faunal turnover was documented at around 10 m, and another at around 60 m, at the onset of the “twilight zone” that is particularly difficult to sample. On the order of 70% of the species are probably new to science. When dealing with taxonomically difficult groups a morphospecies segregation approach is operationally appropriate to detect patterns of richness, rarity and spatial turn-over. Very few, if any, conservation surveys have the human and funding resources to carry out baseline surveys of the intensity that generated the results presented here. However, as species numbers areoften used to promote the conservation interest of a reef, a bay or a stretch of coast, it is essential to know how the numbers were generated: absolute numbers of species are meaningless unless sampling effort and techniques, area surveyed, and size classes targeted are described. This is very rarely the case, even in the academic literature. KeywordsFaunal surveys–Small body size–Rarity–Spatial heterogeneity–Depth zonation–Sampling strategy–Collecting devices
Family Triphoridae. Available online at
  • D L Beechey
Beechey, D.L. (2015). Family Triphoridae. Available online at [Accessed 21 Jul 2017.]
Tropical Pacific marine shells Panglao 2005 – Survey of the deepwater benthic fauna of the Bohol Sea and adjacent waters. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
  • W O B R Cernohorsky
Cernohorsky, W.O. (1978). Tropical Pacific marine shells. Pacific Publications, Sydney. 352pp de Forges, B.R., et. al. (2009). Panglao 2005 – Survey of the deepwater benthic fauna of the Bohol Sea and adjacent waters. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2009, Supplement 20: 21-38.
Marine mollusks in Japan
  • K Hasegawa
Hasegawa, K. (2000). Family Triphoridae. p.302-317 in: Okutani, T. (ed). Marine mollusks in Japan. Tokai University Press, Tokyo. 1221pp.
Family Triphoridae. Available online at [Accessed 22
  • D Riek
Riek, D. (2013a). Family Triphoridae. Available online at [Accessed 22 Jul 2017]