Beyond Capricornia: Tropical Sea Slugs (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) Extend Their Distributions into the Tasman Sea

There is increasing evidence of poleward migration of a broad range of taxa under the influence of a warming ocean. However, patchy research effort, the lack of pre-existing baseline data, and taxonomic uncertainty for some taxa means that unambiguous interpretation of observations is often difficul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diversity (Basel) 2018-09, Vol.10 (3), p.99
Main Authors: Nimbs, Matt, Smith, Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
biodiversity
Biogeography
citizen science
Climate change
Coasts
Coral reefs
Gastropoda
Geographical variations
heterobranch
Migration
Ocean warming
Offshore
Range extension
Sea Slug Census
Slugs
Taxa
Water temperature
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Summary:There is increasing evidence of poleward migration of a broad range of taxa under the influence of a warming ocean. However, patchy research effort, the lack of pre-existing baseline data, and taxonomic uncertainty for some taxa means that unambiguous interpretation of observations is often difficult. Here, we propose that heterobranch sea slugs provide a useful target group for monitoring shifts in distribution. As many sea slugs are highly colourful, popular with underwater photographers and rock-pool ramblers, and found in accessible habitats, they provide an ideal target for citizen scientist programs, such as the Sea Slug Census. This maximises our ability to rapidly gain usable diversity and distributional data. Here, we review records of recent range extensions by tropical species into the subtropical and temperate waters of eastern Australia and document, for the first time in Australian waters, observations of three tropical species of sea slug as well as range extensions for a further six to various locations in the Tasman Sea.
ISSN:1424-2818
1424-2818
DOI:10.3390/d10030099