Stirring up the muck: the systematics of soft-sediment Fionidae (Nudibranchia: Aeolidina) from the tropical Indo-Pacific.

The tropical Indo-Pacific aeolid nudibranchs of the Fionidae are poorly known and have not been studied in a concerted manner. Many undescribed species are found throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans and are concentrated in the Coral Triangle. With the recent publication of a revised systematic arrangement of the Fionidae, documentation and description of new taxa of Fionidae is especially warranted.

A tale of two genera: the revival of Hoplodoris (Nudibranchia: Discodorididae) with the description of new species of Hoplodoris and Asteronotus.

Nudibranchs in the family Discodorididae are generally medium (~30mm) to large ( 50mm) in size, sometimes cryptic, and are found in almost every marine ecosystem around the world. The diversity and systematics of the genera within Discodorididae are poorly understood and have led to numerous taxonomic changes. Hoplodoris Bergh, 1880 has recently been considered a synonym of Asteronotus Ehrenberg, 1831; however, morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal a distinct separation between these two genera.

Finding the Sweet Spot: Sub-Ambient Light Increases Fitness and Kleptoplast Survival in the Sea Slug cf. Gould, 1852.

Sacoglossans, or "sap-sucking" sea slugs, are primarily algivorous, with many taxa exhibiting kleptoplasty, the feeding and retaining of photosynthetically active chloroplasts from algae. The species complex exhibits some of the longest kleptoplast retention and survival times under starvation conditions, but the contributions of these kleptoplasts to their survival and overall fitness have been widely debated. In this study we assessed the effects of starvation and light on the fitness of cf.