Phestilla subodiosus sp. Nov. (nudibranchia, trinchesiidae), a corallivorous pest species in the aquarium trade

Adam WANG, Inga Elizabeth CONTI-JERPE, John Lawrence RICHARDS, David Michael BAKER*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Phestilla subodiosus sp. nov. (Nudibranchia: Trinchesiidae) is a novel species that feeds on corals in the genus Montipora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) which are economically important in the aquarium industry. Nuclear-encoded H3, 28SC1-C2, and mitochondrial-encoded COI and 16S markers were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis, Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), morphological data, and feeding specialization all support the designation of Phestilla subodiosus sp. nov. as a distinct species. Although new to science, Phestilla subodiosus sp. nov. had been extensively reported by aquarium hobbyists as a prolific pest over the past two decades. The species fell into a well-studied genus, which could facilitate research into its control in reef aquaria. Our phylogenetic analysis also revealed Tenellia chaetopterana formed a well-supported clade with Phestilla. Based upon a literature review, its original morphological description, and our phylogenetic hypothesis, we reclassified this species as Phestilla chaetopterana comb. nov.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-24
Number of pages24
JournalZooKeys
Volume909
Issue number909
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Adam Wang et al.

Funding

This project was funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund (# 67/2016) and is manuscript number 48 of MarineGEO-Hong Kong.

Keywords

  • Aquaculture
  • Corallivore
  • Nudibranchs

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