The chemical study of the Brazilian brittle star Ophionereis reticulata led to the isolation of three chamigrene sesquiterpenes, including the partially characterized isoobtusadiene (1), its unreported acetyl derivative (2), and the known (+)-elatol (3). The complete elucidation of the structures 1 and 2 was accomplished by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The first assignment of the absolute configuration of the isoobtusadiene skeleton is suggested as 6S,9R,10S on the basis of the NMR analysis of the Mosher's ester derivatives of 1 and the ECD study of the acetyl derivative 2. Chamigrenes are typical constituents of Laurencia red algae. O. reticulata is a predator with a preference for algae. Thus, the origin of these metabolites can be likely ascribed to diet.
This is the first report of the genus Stibarobdella for Northeastern Brazil. Two specimens isolated from the host were identified in the invertebrate collection at LIMCe (Laboratório de Invertebrados Marinhos do Ceará). The specimens were collected off Paracuru town, a coastal location in Ceará State, Northeastern Brazil (3°25′31″ S, 39°1′29″ W), at a depth of 40 m on July 13th, 1977. The host elasmobranch from which the specimens were retrieved Marine leeches, especially those with parasitic habits, are important components of the ecosystem (Siddal and Burreson 1998; Utevsky and Trontelj 2004; Wunderlich et al. 2011). Approximately twenty species of marine leeches, all of which of the family Piscicolidae, feed on blood from sharks and rays and are known to be vectors of elasmobranch hematozoa (Caira and Healy 2004; Utevsky and Trontelj 2004). Most piscicolids are circumglobal in tropical and subtropical oceans (Utevsky and Tronjelj 2004). Marine leeches feeding on elasmobranchs have previously been reported for
Ofiuroides da família Gorgonocephalidae são pouco encontrados no litoral brasileiro. Dentre essas a espécie Asteroporpa (Asteroporpa) annulata é representada por apenas um único exemplar que se encontra depositado em coleção cientifica. Dessa forma o presente trabalho tem como objetivo incluir um novo registro dessa espécie para o Brasil. Um único indivíduo dessa espécie foi obtido em novembro de 1990 a partir de uma amostra da expedição cientifica MAR XV realizada pelo Navio Oceanográfico alemão Victor Hensen. Esse achado sustenta a presença dessa espécie para o Brasil, representa um novo registro para o estado do Ceará e diminui a lacuna na distribuição conhecida dessa espécie.
A new Late Cretaceous species of Petalobrissus, Petalobrissus lehugueurae sp. nov., is described from the Jandaíra Formation, Potiguar Basin, state of Rio Grande do Norte. To date, this genus comprises a total of 20 species, only two of which, Petalobrissus setifensis and Petalobrissus cubensis have so far been recorded from the Jandaíra Formation. Petalobrissus lehugeurae sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners in that gonopores occupy only a small portion of the genital plates, in having a slit-like periproct and a unique abrupt depression of the test that forms a pronounced keel below the periproct. In addition, an identification key to species of Petalobrissus is presented.
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