First record of the Bahamian mollusc Spurilla dupontae (Mollusca: Aeolidiidae) in the Caribbean subprovince

Abstract

Background: The Bahamas is a region with high diversity of marine molluscs and a high rate of endemism. In certain groups of heterobranchs it is common to observe a distribution pattern consisting of an endemic species from the Bahamas, sister to a widespread western Atlantic species living in the same kind of habitat. This would suggest an allopatric speciation process and lack of gene flow between the Bahamian and the Caribbean subprovinces. However, the Bahamian aeolidacean mollusc Spurilla dupontae is sister to an eastern Atlantic congener. Results and Conclusions: In this paper, S. dupontae, to date considered endemic to the Bahamas, is recorded for the first time in the Caribbean subprovince (Martinique).