New records of Demospongiae (Porifera) from Reserva Marina El Pelado (Santa Elena, Ecuador), with description of () sp. nov.

The first taxonomic descriptions of the sponge diversity at El Pelado Marine Protected Area in the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador is reported. Tedania (Tedania) ecuadoriensis Jaramillo & Hajdu, is described from its shallow waters. In addition, Callyspongia (Callyspongia) aff.

Marine natural products from zoantharians: bioactivity, biosynthesis, systematics, and ecological roles.

Covering: up to the end of 2018Zoantharians, also improperly known as zoanthids or colonial anemones, are well known by aquarists because of their ease of use in aquaria but also because of their splendid colours. However, high concentrations of the highly toxic palytoxin found in some species of zoantharians maintained in reef aquaria has raised some issues recently, unveiling at the same time a rather unknown chemical diversity hidden in these marine beauties. Herein, we report the structure of the metabolites described in all species of zoantharians up to the end of 2018 and their associated biological activities.

Halogenated Tyrosine Derivatives from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Zoantharians Antipathozoanthus hickmani and Parazoanthus darwini.

In the search for bioactive marine natural products from zoantharians of the Tropical Eastern Pacific, four new tyrosine dipeptides, named valdiviamides A-D (1-4), were isolated from Antipathozoanthus hickmani, and two new tyramine derivatives, 5 and 6, from Parazoanthus darwini. The phenols of all six tyrosine derivatives are substituted by bromine and/or iodine atoms at the ortho positions of the hydroxyl. The planar structures of these aromatic alkaloids were elucidated from 1D and 2D NMR experiments in combination with HRESIMS data, and the absolute configurations of 1-4 were deduced from comparison between experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra.

Callyspongidic Acids: Amphiphilic Diacids from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Sponge Callyspongia cf. californica.

The first chemical study of the marine sponge Callyspongia cf. californica widely distributed along the coasts of the Tropical Eastern Pacific led to the identification of a new family of amphiphilic derivatives called callyspongidic acids. The four isolated metabolites 1-4 feature a hydrophilic diacid end opposed to both an aromatic moiety and a long alkyl chain.

Zoanthamine Alkaloids from the Zoantharian cf. and Their Effects in Neuroinflammation.

Two new zoanthamine alkaloids, namely 3-acetoxynorzoanthamine () and 3-acetoxyzoanthamine (), have been isolated from the zoantharian cf. collected off the coast of the Santa Elena Peninsula, Ecuador, together with three known derivatives: zoanthamine, norzoanthamine, and 3-hydroxynorzoanthamine. The chemical structures of and were determined by interpretation of their 1D and 2D NMR data and comparison with literature data.

Assessing the Zoantharian Diversity of the Tropical Eastern Pacific through an Integrative Approach.

Zoantharians represent a group of marine invertebrates widely distributed from shallow waters to the deep sea. Despite a high diversity and abundance in the rocky reefs of the Pacific Ocean, very few studies have been reported on the diversity of this group in the Tropical Eastern Pacific coasts. While molecular techniques recently clarified some taxonomic relationships within the order, the taxonomy of zoantharians is still highly challenging due to a lack of clear morphological characters and confusing use of different data in previous studies.

Ecdysonelactones, Ecdysteroids from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Zoantharian Antipathozoanthus hickmani.

Despite a large occurrence, especially over the Pacific Ocean, the chemical diversity of marine invertebrates belonging to the order Zoantharia is largely underexplored. For the two species of the genus no chemical study has been reported so far. The first chemical investigation of collected at the Marine Protected Area "El Pelado", Santa Elena, Ecuador, led to the isolation of four new ecdysteroid derivatives named ecdysonelactones.

Terrazoanthines, 2-Aminoimidazole Alkaloids from the Tropical Eastern Pacific Zoantharian Terrazoanthus onoi.

The first chemical study of the common species Terrazoanthus onoi, present off the coast of Ecuador, led to the identification of a new family of 2-aminoimidazole alkaloids named terrazoanthines A-C (1-3). Homologues 1 and 2 feature an unprecedented 6-(imidazol-5-yl)benzo[d]imidazole. Acyl substitution pattern and complete configurational assignments were deduced from comparison between experimental and theoretical C NMR and ECD data, respectively.