Gustav Paulay

University of Florida | UF · Florida Museum of Natural History

The ostreid genus Anomiostrea Habe & Kosuge, 1966, is monotypic for A. coralliophila Habe, 1975, which is known as a symbiont inhabiting the burrow of the ghost shrimp Neocallichirus jousseaumei (Nobili, 1904), but despite this unusual habit among oysters its phylogenetic position within the Ostreidae remained unknown. Using specimens collected fro...

Ctenophores or comb jellies represent the first diverging lineage of extant animals – sister to all other Metazoa. As a result, they occupy a unique place in the biological sciences. Despite their importance, this diverse group of marine predators has remained relatively poorly known, with both the species and higher-level taxonomy of the phylum in...

We document aggregations of an undescribed benthic solitary tunicate of the family Pyuridae from the Arabian Sea. This new genus was found forming dense thickets in shallow rocky substrates around Masirah Island and the Dhofar area in Oman. Such aggregations of tunicates have not been reported before from coral reefs in the Indo-West Pacific region...

Both human populations and marine biodiversity are concentrated along coastlines, with growing conservation interest in how these ecosystems can survive intense anthropogenic impacts. Tropical urban centres provide valuable research opportunities because these megacities are often adjacent to mega-diverse coral reef systems. The Pearl River Delta i...

Iphione Kinberg, 1856 includes tropical marine scaleworm species which live in rocky bottoms, often on the undersurface of coral rubble or rocks, and superficially resemble chitons. The most widely distributed species known is Iphione ovata Kinberg, 1856, originally described from Hawaii and recorded from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to Western Mex...

The acrothoracican genus Berndtia Utinomi, 1950 includes small barnacles known to bore into the calcareous skeleton of living scleractinian corals of the genera Psammocora Dana, 1846 and Leptastrea Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849. The six known species of Berndtia are restricted to the tropical Western Pacific. We provide the first record of Berndtia f...

We document the benthic ctenophores Coeloplana sp. and Vallicula multiformis from Oman, extending their geographic range. A new Coeloplana species was found forming aggregations on gorgonians of two octocoral host genera, Melithaea and Euplexaura, representing associations previously unknown to occur in the Indo-West Pacific region. Our findings al...

Ophiothrix angulata (Say, 1825) is one of the most common and well-known ophiuroids in the Western Atlantic, with a wide geographic and bathymetric range. The taxonomy of this species has been controversial for a century because of its high morphological variability. Here we integrate information from DNA sequence data, color patterns, and geometri...

Molecular studies have revealed that many species once thought to be wide-ranging in the Indo-West Pacific contain allopatric mosaics of endemic lineages. These lineages provide compelling evidence that substantial time is needed to evolve isolating mechanisms sufficient to permit successful secondary sympatry, and that divergence is initiated in a...

Nine species of fiddler crabs (Crustacea: Ocypodidae: Gelasiminae) are known from the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters (Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and Arabian/Persian Gulf): five species of Austruca, one Cranuca, two Gelasimus and one Tubuca. COI sequence data match morphological species boundaries and shows high connectivity within each. T...

All members of the Athelginae are abdominal parasites of paguroid crabs. Five species of athelgines from the Florida Museum of Natural History are reported here, three from new localities and hosts. Allathelges pakistanensis Kazmi & Markham, 1999 is recorded from Oman, from the type host. Athelges caudalis Barnard, 1955 is recorded from the Philipp...

Dense aggregations of serpulid worms were encountered in the Daymaniyat Islands (Gulf of Oman) from 10 to 20 m depth, over the period January–March, 2021. The species responsible for these aggregations belongs to the Filograna/Salmacina-complex (Annelida: Serpulidae). This species has been present in the area and observed along the Oman coastline,...

Our perception of reef diversity is dominated by corals, fish, and a few other groups that visibly dominate the reef surface. However, the bulk of reef biodiversity resides within the reef framework, and this cryptobiota is fundamentally important for the surface community. Sponges are abundant and conspicuous on the reef surface in productive, con...

Coral reefs are home to the greatest diversity of marine life, and many species on reefs live in symbiotic associations. Studying the historical biogeography of symbiotic species is key to unravelling (potential) coevolutionary processes and explaining species richness patterns. Coral-dwelling gall crabs (Cryptochiridae) live in obligate symbiosis...

Background Classification of parasitic bopyrids has traditionally been based on morphological characteristics, but phylogenetic relationships have remained elusive due to limited information provided by morphological data and tendency for loss of morphological features as a result of parasitic lifestyle. Subfamily Argeiinae was separated from Bopyr...

Phylogenetic relationships and the timing of evolutionary events are essential for understanding evolution on longer time scales. Cheilostome bryozoans are a group of ubiquitous, species-rich, marine colonial organisms with an excellent fossil record but lack phylogenetic relationships inferred from molecular data. We present genome-skimmed data fo...

Xanthid crabs of the genus TweedieiaWard, 1935, are among the most beautiful decapod cryptofauna in Indo-West Pacific coral reefs, with an ornate arrangement of granules and setae, in combination with an eye-catching color pattern. The genus and three recognised species (T. odhneri (Gordon, 1934), T. laysani (Rathbun, 1906), and T. brevidactylaDai...

Lingulidae are often considered living fossils, because they have shown little morphological change since the Paleozoic. Limited morphological variation has also made the taxonomic study of living lingulids challenging. We investigated species diversity and phylogenetic relationships of extant lingulids and show that they are substantially more div...

First inventory of holothurians (Holothuroidea) observed on La Pérouse Seamount - Reunion Island southwest of the Indian Ocean - La Pérouse Expedition 2019

Benthic suspension feeders have significant impacts on plankton communities by depleting plankton or modifying the composition of the plankton through prey selectivity. Quantifying diets of planktivorous animals can be difficult because plankton are frequently microscopic, may lack diagnostic characters, and are digested at variable rates. With DNA...

Biodiversity is the engine of ocean ecosystems and economies. Efficiently characterizing it, rapidly at high resolution, is the frontier for understanding global change and management. The biggest impediment to breaching that frontier is inadequate DNA reference libraries, which can currently identify <25% of animal species in environmental profile...

Two new bopyrids, Bopyrinina articulata n. sp. and Bopyrinella asymmetrica n. sp. are described from French Polynesia, the Red Sea, and the Philippines. Bopyrinina articulata n.sp. infests Salmoneus cf. gracilipes Miya, and is distinguishable from other species of this genus by the structure of the maxilliped, pleopods and oostegite 1. Bopyrinella...

Benthic suspension feeders have significant impacts on plankton communities by depleting plankton or modifying composition of the plankton through prey selectivity. Quantifying diets of planktivorous animals can be difficult because plankton are frequently microscopic, may lack diagnostic characters, and are digested at variable rates. With DNA met...

Two new records of the rare parasitic isopod genus Parioninella are described. Parioninella liuruiyui n. sp. represents the first record of the genus from Australia and the first bopyrid described from the porcelain crab Pachycheles pisoides (Heller, 1865). The female of the new species differs from other described species in lacking eyes, produced...

The identity of wild cloning sea star larvae has been a mystery since they were first documented in the Caribbean. The most commonly collected cloning species was thought to belong to the Oreasteridae, on the basis of similarity with sequences from Oreaster reticulatus and Oreaster clavatus. This larval form has recently been linked to a rare benth...

Three new species of the bopyrid genus Scyracepon Tattersall, 1905 are described from crabs collected on Pacific Islands: Scyracepon polynesiensis n. sp. from the Society Islands, S. pseudoliomerae n. sp. from the Mariana Islands, and S. biglobosus n. sp. from the Line Islands. The first two were found infesting Xanthias lamarckii and Pseudoliomera...

Three new species of the parasitic isopod subfamily Hemiarthrinae Markham, 1972 are described. Allodiplophryxus unilateralis n. sp. is described from Western Australia, infesting the palaemonid shrimp Jocaste lucina (Nobili, 1901), and females differ from the only other species in the genus in possessing six pleomeres, an asymmetrical first oostegi...

Nearly all of the recognized species of sea slugs in clade Sacoglossa (about 300 taxa) are herbivorous, using a uniseriate radula in suctorial feeding. The only exceptions are a pair of monotypic genera in the ceratiform family Limapontiidae: Olea Agersborg, 1923 from the northeastern Pacific, and Calliopaea d'Orbigny, 1837 from the northeastern At...

Our knowledge of the ecology and habitat of juveniles of many sea cucumber species is limited, due to their cryptic habitats and differing color and shape from adults. In the present study, a juvenile specimen of the sea cucumber Thelenota anax H. L. Clark, 1921, collected from 30 m at Rukan Reef, Okinawa, Japan, is described. We confirmed specific...

Sponges act as important microhabitats in the marine environment and promote biodiversity by harboring a wide variety of macrofauna, but little is known about the magnitude and patterns of diversity of sponge-associated communities. This study uses DNA barcoding to examine the macrofaunal communities associated with Stylissa carteri in the central...

Abstract: The genera Dissodactylus and Clypeasterophilus (Family: Pinnotheridae, Phylum Arthropoda) are commensal or obligate parasitic crabs that live in association with irregular sea urchins (Class Echinoidea, Phylum Echinodermata). We studied the association between these crabs and sand dollars off Steinhatchee, FL (eastern Gulf of Mexico) duri...

The parasitic isopod genus Tylokepon is recorded for the first time from the Mariana Islands and Australia. Tylokeponmarianensissp. n. is described from the Mariana Islands, infesting Thusaenysirami (Laurie, 1906). The holotype female differs from other known Tylokepon females by the tri-lobed projection on pereomere 6, almost smooth lateral plates...

Brittle-stars in the family Ophiocomidae are large and colourful inhabitants of tropical shallow water habitats across the globe. Here we use targeted capture and next-generation sequencing to generate robust phylogenomic trees for 39 of the 43 species in order to test the monophyly of existing genera. The large genus Ophiocoma, as currently consti...

Three new species in the parasitic isopod genus Bopyrissa Nierstrasz & Brender à Brandis, 1931, recorded from Kiribati, the Mariana Islands and French Polynesia, are described. These three species, B. distorta sp. nov., B. guamensis sp. nov. and B. oceania sp. nov., are the first species of the genus recorded from Oceania, occurring on three differ...

Research Infrastructures (RIs) are facilities, resources and services used by the scientific community to conduct research and foster innovation. LifeWatch ERIC has developed various virtual research environments, which include many virtual laboratories (vLabs) offering high computational capacity and comprehensive collaborative platforms that supp...

Research Infrastructures (RIs) are facilities, resources and services used by the scientific community to conduct research and foster innovation. LifeWatch ERIC has developed various virtual research environments, which include many virtual laboratories (vLabs) offering high computational capacity and comprehensive collaborative platforms that supp...

Over the last thirty years, the Indo-West Pacific swimming crab Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867) (Brachyura, Portunidae) has become an abundant, well-established marine invasive throughout the warmer waters of the Western Atlantic. This aggressive, moderately sized crab is also not native to the Hawaiian Islands; however, a single specim...

A new species of the genus Arachnanthus (Cnidaria: Ceriantharia), Arachnanthuslilith Stampar & El Didi, sp. n. , is described. This species is widely distributed in the Red Sea, and recorded from 2–30 m depths. Arachnanthuslilith Stampar & El Didi, sp. n. is the fifth species of the genus and the first recorded from the Red Sea. The number of labia...

Research Infrastructures (RIs) are facilities, resources and services used by the scientific community to conduct research and foster innovation. LifeWatch ERIC has developed various virtual research environments, which include many virtual laboratories (vLabs) offering high computational capacity and comprehensive collaborative platforms that supp...

The World Register of Marine species (WoRMS) has been established for a decade. The early history of the database involved compilation of existing global and regional species registers. This aggregation, combined with changes to data types and the changing needs of WoRMS users, has resulted in an evolution of data-entry consistency over time. With...

Ctenophora, comprising approximately 200 described species, is an important lineage for understanding metazoan evolution and is of great ecological and economic importance. Ctenophore diversity includes species with unique colloblasts used for prey capture, smooth and striated muscles, benthic and pelagic lifestyles, and locomotion with ciliated pa...

In the version of this Article originally published the location of Punta Arenas was incorrect and should have read 'Chile' in Figures 3–5 and in the Supplementary Information. This has been corrected in all versions of the Article.

In anticipation of the current biodiversity crisis, it has become critical to rapidly and accurately assess biodiversity. DNA barcoding has proved efficient in facilitating the discovery and description of thousands of species and also provides insight into the dynamics of biodiversity. Here, we sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome c...

Sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) are a morphologically diverse, ecologically important, and economically valued clade of echinoderms; however, the understanding of the overall systematics of the group remains controversial. Here, we present a phylogeny of extant Holothuroidea assessed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches...

Three hosts from Indo-west Pacific including Kiribati, Guam Island and Australia were examined, and found to be infested by three species of the subfamily Argeiinae. We describe Paraeragia kiribatiensis gen. nov., sp. nov. from Kiribati infesting Synalpheus gracilirostris. The new genus is most related to Eragia and it can be distinguished by femal...

The Marquesas Islands have no longer a reef formation as they possessed before the Holocene. Despite an important variety of coastal and deep habitats in a rich plankton ocean environment, invertebrate richness is less than in other archipelagos of French Polynesia. Only a few taxonomic groups were studied; those species which are of significant si...

Despite their importance in marine biodiversity, invertebrates are far less studied than vertebrates. Given the current global biodiversity crisis and insufficient taxonomic resources, sustained efforts need to be undertaken to assess species diversity, especially in the highly threatened 'biodiversity hotspots'. Réunion is a young volcanic island...

Sponges are important constituents of coral reef ecosystems, including those around the Arabian Peninsula. Despite their importance, our knowledge on demosponge diversity in this area is insufficient to recognize, for example, faunal changes caused by anthropogenic disturbances. We here report the first assessment of demosponge molecular biodiversi...