Genetic barcoding confirms that the neurotoxic sea slug invading southwestern Atlantic is Pleurobranchaea maculata

NAHUEL EMILIANO FARIAS; SUSANNA A. WOOD; SANDRA OBENAT; EVANGELINA SCHWINDT

NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

RSNZ PUBLISHING

Lugar: Auckland; Año: 2016 vol. 43 p. 292 - 298

0301-4223

This communication extends a previous report on the outbreak of a neurotoxic sea slug in south western Atlantic coasts by providing the identification to a species level. In this study the 650 base pair (bp) region of the Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene used for genetic barcoding was sequenced from three individual slugs sourced from three locations in Argentina. The sequences had high similarity (99%) to those of Pleurobranchaea maculata in New Zealand. These data in concert with previous detailed morphological descriptions and the presence of a neurotoxin of similar effect of that produced by New Zealand populations confirm the identity of these sea slugs as P. maculata. Given that the distribution in the southwestern Atlantic now spans over ca. 2000 km of coastline and population sizes are steadily increasing we recommend urgent studies on the slugs? toxicity, population genetics and impacts on local ecosystems.