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<p>Nudibranchs and other heterobranch sea slugs are charismatic marine gastropods that are popular among the recreational diving industry. Despite considerable progress in recent years being made towards taxonomic and systematic clarifications of these animals, few investigations have been conducted to explore the ecological dynamics associated with them. In this work, we investigate the dietary specificity of hydroid-feeding nudibranchs from the coral reefs and soft sediment habitats of the Gulf of Thailand. A total of 1293 hydroid colonies comprising nine species were surveyed from soft sediment habitats, and 767 colonies (six species) were surveyed from coral reefs, with a total of 20 nudibranch species reliably recorded feeding. Considerable differences were found in the dietary variability and habitat association between predator and preys, with most nudibranchs associated with only 1–2 species of prey, whereas a single hydroid species may host up to five distinct predators. Common species such as <i>Macrorhynchia philippina</i> Kirchenpauer, 1872 were found sparsely hosting nudibranch predators on the reef (9.68% of colonies) versus soft sediments (82.76% of colonies). In addition, several species of nudibranchs with unresolved taxonomy were consistently recorded from specific preys, including <i>Doto gaeli</i> Caballer, Mehrotra &amp; Chavanich sp. nov. described herein found on <i>Polyplumaria cornuta</i>. The diverse family Dotidae Gray, 1853, which has proved challenging to study due to the diminutive size of many species, is formally recorded from Thai waters in this work. Our results emphasise the distinction in diversity and ecology of soft sediment habitats compared to coral reefs and the need for further ecological integration within taxonomic investigation.</p>

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Ecological assessments on hydroid-associated nudibranchs reveal previously unrecorded diversity and a new species of Doto from the Gulf of Thailand

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月12日

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  • Rahul Mehrotra,
  • Suchana Chavanich,
  • Manuel Caballer Gutierrez

摘要

Nudibranchs and other heterobranch sea slugs are charismatic marine gastropods that are popular among the recreational diving industry. Despite considerable progress in recent years being made towards taxonomic and systematic clarifications of these animals, few investigations have been conducted to explore the ecological dynamics associated with them. In this work, we investigate the dietary specificity of hydroid-feeding nudibranchs from the coral reefs and soft sediment habitats of the Gulf of Thailand. A total of 1293 hydroid colonies comprising nine species were surveyed from soft sediment habitats, and 767 colonies (six species) were surveyed from coral reefs, with a total of 20 nudibranch species reliably recorded feeding. Considerable differences were found in the dietary variability and habitat association between predator and preys, with most nudibranchs associated with only 1–2 species of prey, whereas a single hydroid species may host up to five distinct predators. Common species such as Macrorhynchia philippina Kirchenpauer, 1872 were found sparsely hosting nudibranch predators on the reef (9.68% of colonies) versus soft sediments (82.76% of colonies). In addition, several species of nudibranchs with unresolved taxonomy were consistently recorded from specific preys, including Doto gaeli Caballer, Mehrotra & Chavanich sp. nov. described herein found on Polyplumaria cornuta. The diverse family Dotidae Gray, 1853, which has proved challenging to study due to the diminutive size of many species, is formally recorded from Thai waters in this work. Our results emphasise the distinction in diversity and ecology of soft sediment habitats compared to coral reefs and the need for further ecological integration within taxonomic investigation.