Peronia J. Fleming, 1822 is an eupulmonate slug genus with a wide distribution in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Currently, nine species are considered as valid. However, molecular data indicate cryptic speciation and more species involved. Here, we present results on a new species found in the Persian Gulf, a subtropical region with harsh conditions such as elevated salinity and high temperature compared to the Indian Ocean. Peronia persiae sp. nov. is described based on molecular, histological, anatomical, micro-computer tomography and scanning electron microscopy data. ABGD, GMYC and bPTP analyses based on 16S rDNA and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences of Peronia confirm the delimitation of the new species. Moreover, our 14 specimens were carefully compared with available information of other described Peronia species. Peronia persiae sp. nov. is distinct in a combination of characters, including differences in the genital (ampulla, prostate, penial hooks, penial needle) and digestive systems (lack of pharyngeal wall teeth, tooth shape in radula, intestine of type II).

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the knowledge of relationships between taxa is essential to understand and explain the chemical diversity of the respective groups. Here, twelve individuals of the panpulmonate slug Peronia persiae from two localities in persian Gulf, and one animal of P. verruculata from Bangka island, indonesia, were analyzed in a phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic framework. Based on the ABGD test and haplotype networking using coi gene sequences of Peronia specimens, nine well-supported clades were found. Haplotype network analysis highlighted a considerable distance between the specimens of P. persiae and other clades. Metabolomic analysis of both species using tandem mass spectrometrybased GnpS molecular networking revealed a large chemical diversity within Peronia of different clades and localities. While P. persiae from different localities showed a highly similar metabolome, only few identical chemical features were found across the clades. the main common metabolites in both Peronia species were assigned as polypropionate esters of onchitriols and ilikonapyrones, and osmoprotectant amino acid-betaine compounds. On the other hand, the isoflavonoids genistein and daidzein were exclusively detected in P. persiae, while cholesterol and conjugated chenodeoxycholic acids were only found in P. verruculata. flavonoids, bile acids, and amino acid-betaine compounds were not reported before from onchidiidae, some are even new for panpulmonates. our chemical analyses indicate a close chemotaxonomic relation between phylogeographically distant Peronia species. Peronia Fleming, 1822, a panpulmonate slug genus, is typically distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the Indo-Pacific ocean 1. The genus Peronia, with ten acknowledged species, has been reported from many localities ranging from the Indo-Pacific to the East Coast of Africa and to Hawaii 2-4. Due to undetected cryptic speciation, species diversity is often underestimated while the widespread distributions attributed to species is often overestimated 5. The integration of molecular and morphological methods has led to numerous discoveries of cryptic species complexes 6. This is also true for the genus Peronia, as was shown by Maniei et al. 3. To date, only three Peronia species are well investigated by molecular and/or morphology data, i.e.