Carlo M. Cunha

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian mega...

In 2022, we published an article in this journal entitled “Cave-dwelling gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Brazil: state of the art and conservation”. In that study, we compiled all the available information about cave-dwelling gastropods in the country, including terrestrial and freshwater species. We focused on the troglobites but also include...

Increasing habitat modification and species loss demand consistent efforts to describe and understand biodiversity patterns. The BIOTA/FAPESP Program was created in this context and it has been a successful initiative to promote studies on biodiversity and conservation in Brazil. The BIOTA/Araçá is an interdisciplinary project that provided a detai...

The reduced temporal validity of species lists made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent the up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. The Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB), made publ...

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: se ng the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

An up-to-date list of exclusively cave-dwelling gastropod species recorded in Brazil is presented including updated taxonomy, detailed geographic information, and illustration of types. The list includes 18 cave-exclusive (troglobitic) gastropods encompassing 15 land and three freshwater species, with the status of further species pending additiona...

The Brasilian territory is very extensive and harbors ~20,000caves, over half of which are calcareous (Fig. 1; CECAV, 2020). A reduced number of the ~ 700 terrestrial and nearly260 freshwater gastropod species reported from Brasil (Simone, 2006; Birckolz et al., 2016; Salvador, 2019) inhabit cave environments exclusively. Since the description of t...

We introduce herein Lanayrella gen. nov. to accommodate two Acteonidae species that have proven resistant to stable classification: Tornatella vagabunda Mabille, 1885 and Acteon ringei Strebel, 1905. The new genus is diagnosed by a protoconch fully immersed within the shell and a platform-like columellar region of the aperture, which bears a strong...

We report the first Brazilian record of Leiostracus demerarensis (L. Pfeiffer, 1861) from Pará and Maranhão states. The distribution of this species now comprises Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and northern Brazil. Furthermore, given the uncertainty in generic and familial allocation of this species (either Bostryx Troschel, 1847, Bulimulidae, or...

A new species of Streptartemon Kobelt, 1905 land snail from Santos, SE Brazil, is herein described as Streptartemon waukeen sp. nov., from specimens originally found in an urban garden. The new species is distributed along coastal urban areas from southern Espírito Santo state to São Paulo state. It can be diagnosed from its congeners by the follow...

Natural history collections are now being championed as key to broad ecological studies, especially those involving human impacts in the Anthropocene. However, collections are going through a crisis that threatens their present and future value, going beyond underfunding/understaffing to a more damaging practice: current researchers are no longer d...

This study reports on the fauna found in/on tubes of 10 species of Ceriantharia and discusses the characteristics of these occurrences, as well as the use of mollusc shells in ceriantharian tube construction. A total of 22 tubes of Ceriantharia from Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Portugal and the United States were analysed, revealing 58 species...

Okenia polycerelloides (Ortea & Bouchet, 1983) is a small goniodoridid nudibranch originally described from the Canary Islands. Its taxonomic history has been problematic since its original description, a situation that worsened after this taxon was synonymized with Okenia zoobotryon (Smallwood, 1910), one of the most problematic Okenia Menke, 1830...

The type specimens of 15 nominal species of Aplysiida (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia are listed and their primary types are illustrated. Type materials described by the following authors are present: Henry A. Pilsbry (9 names), Angelo Heilprin (2), Charles N. E. Eliot (1), William H. Pease (2) and El...

Okenia polycerelloides (Ortea & Bouchet, 1983) is a small goniodoridid nudibranch originally described from the Canary Islands. Its taxonomic history has been problematic since its original description, a situation that worsened after this taxon was synonymized with Okenia zoobotryon (Smallwood, 1910), one of the most problematic Okenia Menke, 1830...

Acteon semicingulatus Dall, 1927, previously known only by its original description is reassigned to the Pyramidellidae, in Ondina, based on the collecting of several new specimens along the coast of Brazil, in the same bathymetry as the type locality.

The type specimens of fossil “Architectibranchia” and Cephalaspidea (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) deposited in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, USA, are listed herein. The collection includes types of circa 60 species, from the families: Acteonellidae, Acteonidae, Bullidae, Cylichnidae, Haminoeidae, Philinidae, Retusidae, Rhizoridae, R...

Acteonsemicingulatus Dall, 1927, previously known only by its original description is reassigned to the Pyramidellidae, in Ondina , based on the collecting of several new specimens along the coast of Brazil, in the same bathymetry as the type locality. Its shell shape variation is discussed and Odostomia (Evalea) ryclea Dall, 1927 is considered a s...

Acteonidae d'Orbigny, 1843 is the largest family within the superfamily Acteonoidea (Bouchet et al. 2017) and includes small gastropods typical of infralittoral environments. Most acteonids living on the continental shelf or in deep water have been described on the basis of shell morphology alone (Simone 2006; Valdés 2008; Cunha 2011; Salvador & Cu...

The South American fossil record of pulmonate gastropods counts with circa 100species from the Cretaceous to the Pliocene. As this knowledge is largely scattered in the literature, we present here a checklist of these fossils, with relevant data about each species’ type locality, stratum and age, and illustrating the type specimens whenever possibl...

Although Aplysia depilans is a widely known European species and the type species of the genus, the distinctions that separate it from other related congeners are not entirely clear. Aimed at improving this scenario, a detailed morphological description is performed herein, showing some unprecedented and useful features. Based on our anatomical exa...

This study aimed to describe the composition of mollusk assemblages in subtropical Brazilian mangroves with different levels of urbanization in their watersheds. Mangroves are important ecosystems, which are vanishing worldwide due to human impacts. The knowledge about the consequences of human pressure on the fauna of these ecosystems is still inc...

The Japanese land snail Ovachlamys fulgens is reported for the first time in Brazil. We recorded the species in 2015 and 2017 in the municipalities of Santos and São Vicente in the metropolitan region of Baixada Santista, São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. We found the species in an urban park and in a secondary forest altered by exotic plants....

The family Elachisinidae Ponder, 1985 includes minute marine gastropods that live predominantly in the sublittoral zone (Ponder & Keyzer 1998; Rolán & Rubio 2001; Rolán & Gofas 2003). Most elachisinids have been included in the genus Elachisina Dall, 1918 based on their shell morphology (Warén 1996; Rolán & Rubio 2001; Rolán & Gofas 2003), conseque...

The genus Liocarenus (Acteonidae) was originally described from Eocene fossil material and has subsequently come to include three subgenera (Liocarenus s. s., Bulimactaeon and Nucleopsis) and nine species, including a Recent one (L. globulinus). Together, these have been accorded status as a subfamily, Liocareninae. We here present a taxonomic revi...

Gastropteron Kosse, 1813 is a genus of small cephalaspidean gastropods of the family Gastropteridae, a group which comprises four genera and circa 40 species distributed worldwide. Only two species of Gastropteron are known from the Western Atlantic: G. chacmol Gosliner, 1989, previously identified as the Mediterranean G. rubrum (Rafinesque, 1814)...

Extraocular muscles are classically grouped as four rectus and two oblique muscles. However, their description and potential associations with species behavior are limited. The objective was to characterize extraocular muscles in four Myliobatoidei rays from diverse habitats with divergent behaviors. Heads (10 per species) of Dasyatis hypostigma, G...

Trindade is an oceanic island 1140 km off Vitória, Brazil. The Marion Dufresne Expedition (1987) recovered there many land snail shells, all stylommatophoran pulmonates. Here, four microgastropod species found in this material are recorded for the first time on Trindade Island: Lilloiconcha gordurasensis(Charopidae), Pupisoma macneilli(Valloniidae)...

Species of sea hares have been recognized traditionally based on morphological traits, mainly the radula, external coloration, and reproductive anatomy. However, recent studies have shown substantial color variation in some sea slug species. Molecular data have been successfully used to differentiate morphologically similar species of "opisthobranc...

possess similar measurements (Table 1) and represent the southern occurrence of the species on Brazil (Table 2) (Figure 1). Despite the length of the Brazilian coast and the 200 miles of exclusive economic area offshore, the capture of Thysanoteuthis rhombus adults (Figure 2) in this country is rare. These are incidental and are part of the bycatch...

The Fissurellidae collected by the Marion-Dufresne Expedition, as well as other regional expeditions to SE Brazil are examined taxonomically, treating 21 species, of which 20 are new. The following new species are described (order according to depth range; species marked with * are from expeditions other than MD55): Cornisepta uirapa (790-940 m), C...

For four decades it has been suspected that the endemic land snails of Trindade Island, Brazil, were extinct. Here we report finding live Succinea lopesi Lanzieri, 1966 and a species of Happia Bourguignat, 1889 on top of the island's highest peaks. Happia is a new record for the island and possibly also a new endemic species. As Trindade's environm...

Three specimens of the genus Corambe were found in the intertidal zone of Santos, São Paulo (Brazil); two of them were identified as C. evelinae and one as C. carambola. Both species are reported for the first time since more than about 40 years ago. Current knowledge about Brazilian opisthobranchs is mostly derived from the taxonomic studies of Er...

The family Eulimidae comprises minute gastropods best known for its parasitic habit on Echinodermata. Despite this, reports of association between eulimids and echinoderms are rather scarce. In this study, two new hosts,Parathyone suspectaand Holothuria grisea, were observed for the eulimid Melanella eburnea. This is the first record for the latter...

The present redescription of Diplodonta portesiana (d'Orbigny, 1846) is the first part of the revision of this genus in the East Atlantic. This species, despite being common in the Atlantic coast, remains poorly known. A detailed shell and anatomical study was conducted based not only on specimens from the type locality's vicinities but also on sam...

Land snails (stylommatophoran pulmonates, shells only) were collected on Trindade Island, 1140 km off Vitória, Brazil, by the Marion Dufresnei Expedition (MD-55) and more recently by our team. Trindade's endemic snails are Bulimulus brunoi and Naesiotus arnaldoi (Orthalicidae), and Oxyloma beckeri and Succinea lopesi (Succineidae). As some non-nati...

The deep-water molluscs collected during the expedition MD55 off SE Brazil have been gradually studied in some previous papers. The present one is focused on samples belonging to caenogastropod taxa Xenophoridae Troschel, 1852, Cypraeoidea Rafinesque, 1815, mitriforms and Terebridae Mörch, 1852. Regarding the Xenophoridae, Onustus aquitanus n. sp....

. A new species of Acteon Montfort 1810, Acteon mirim sp. nov., from Canopus Bank, state of Ceará, Brazil is described based on shell morphology. The new species is compared with other species of the genus reported from Brazil. It differs from other Brazilian species in having a whitish color with dark orange-brown spiral bands and a shell surface...

A revision of the deep-water verticordiid genusSpinosipellais provided, based on conchological and anatomical characters. The genus is considered distinct fromVerticordia(of which it was considered a subgenus) based on the strong ribs, prickly surface, reduction of lunula, relative large size, weakly spiral valve shape, and other characters. The fo...

Obtaining accurate and comprehensive anatomical information from small opisthobranch specimens has been a major problem. Computer-based 3-dimensional reconstruction from serial histological slides applying AMIRA (TGS Graphics) software is shown to be an efficient and fully reproducible way to analyse tiny and complex organ systems in their true rel...

A revision of the trochid genera Gaza and Callogaza, inhabiting the deep waters of western Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean, is here provided. Species are separated mainly by shell characters, but anatomical features are also used in some species. The species considered in this study are: Gaza compta n. sp. (SE Brazil), G. daedala Watson, 1...

A pregnant female of the Dwarf deep-sea shark, Squaliolus laticaudus with four embryos was caught by the nocturnal longline vessel “Progressão” from southern Brazil, on September 1999. It was donated by the fishermen. Embryos ranged in size 105 – 100mm of total length. The aim of this article is to contribute to the knowledge of the Dwarf deep-sea...

Registro de uma fêmea grávida de raia diabo, Mobula thurstoni (Lloyd) (Elasmobranchii, Mobulidae) capturada no Sudeste do Brasil. The present paper reports the first occurrence of a 183 cm disc width pregnant female of Mobula thurstoni (Lloyd, 1908) in southwest Brazilian coast, caught by a commercial longline fishing vessel. Morphometrics and a mo...

Objetivo: Fornecer dados preliminares sobre o desenvolvimento sexual das fêmeas de Psall1mobatis extenla (Garman, 1913), procedentes da frota pesqueira sediada no Terminal de Pesca de Santos, São Paulo, relacionando observações anatômicas e morfométricas ao grau de desenvolvimento sexual dos indivíduos observados. Material e Método: Estudos prelimi...

Pseudococculina rimula, new species, is described. It occurs off the state of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil, at 350-400 m depth. This is the fist report of the genus in the Atlantic Ocean. The main diagnostic characters of the new species are: shell high, lacking radial sculpture; snout flat, somewhat involved by oral lappets; posterior od...

A short report on tambjaminas