Jorunna funebris explained

Jorunna funebris, commonly called the dotted nudibranch, is a species of sea slug. It is a dorid nudibranch, which is a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae.^[1] The genus Jorunna is composed of roughly 15 other species of nudibranchs, which feed on a variety of sponges.^[2]

Distribution

This species was described from Sri Lanka. It is widespread in the Indo-Pacific region from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean along the East African coast to Australia, New Caledonia, and Hawaii.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Bouchet, P. (2010). Jorunna funebris (Kelaart, 1859). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2011-08-24
2. Y.E. Camacho-Garcia, T.M. Gosliner

   Systematic revision of Jorunna Bergh, 1876 (Nudibranchia: Discodorididae) with a morphological phylogenetic analysis

   J Molluscan Stud, 74 (2008), pp. 143-181

3. Dayrat B. 2010. A monographic revision of discodorid sea slugs (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Nudibranchia, Doridina). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 4, vol. 61, suppl. I, 1-403, 382 figs.
4. Kasamesiri, Pattira, et al. "Observations on embryonic development of black-spot Jorunna, Jorunna funebris (Kelaart, 1859) (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia)." Journal of Shellfish Research, vol. 31, no. 1, 2012, p. 111+. Gale Academic OneFile.
5. Web site: jorumycin - MeSH - NCBI. 2020-06-30. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
6. Blunt, John W.; Copp, Brent R.; Munro, Murray H. G.; Northcote, Peter T.; Prinsep, Michèle R. (2011). "Marine Natural Products". Natural Product Reports. 28: 196–268 – via The Royal Society of Chemistry.
7. Web site: Synthetic Chemistry Takes Anti-Cancer Compounds out of the Sea Slug and into the Lab. 2020-06-30. California Institute of Technology. 24 January 2019 . en.
8. He. Wen-Fei. Li. Yan. Feng. Mei-Tang. Gavagnin. Margherita. Mollo. Ernesto. Mao. Shui-Chun. Guo. Yue-Wei. 2014-07-01. New isoquinolinequinone alkaloids from the South China Sea nudibranch Jorunna funebris and its possible sponge-prey Xestospongia sp.. Fitoterapia. en. 96. 109–114. 10.1016/j.fitote.2014.04.011. 24769286 . 0367-326X.
9. Rudman, W.B., 1998 (December 31) Jorunna funebris (Kelaart, 1858). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.^[3] Jorunna funebris preys exclusively on sponges in the genus Xestospongia, and as such, the sea slug's distribution aligns closely with the distribution of Xestospongia.^[4]

   History

   The species was first described as Doris funebris in 1858 by E.F. Kelaart in Sri Lanka, formerly called Ceylon. Kelaart described the nudibranch's appearance, egg mass appearance, and the behavior of a pair while laying eggs in an aquarium.^[10] Since then, there have been further observations of the species under different names, including Kentrodoris funebris, Kentrodoris annuligera, Kentrodoris maculosa, Discodoris wetleyi, and Jorunna zania.

   Chemistry of Jorunna funebris

   This species contains a chemical compound called "jorumycin," which shares the same tetrahydroisoquinoline^[5] backbone as an anti-tumor drug called Zalypsis, or PM00104.^[6] In addition, another compound called jorunnamycin A,^[7] has been found alongside fennebricins A (1) and B (5), both of which are bis-tetrahydroisoquinolinequinones and related to two classes of anti-tumor alkaloids.^[8]

   Further reading

   • Vine, P. (1986). Red Sea Invertebrates. Immel Publishing, London. 224 pp
   • Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cape Town & Johannesburg.
   • Camacho-García . Yolanda E. . Gosliner . Terrence M. . Systematic revision of Jorunna Bergh, 1876 (Nudibranchia: Discodorididae) with a morphological phylogenetic analysis . Journal of Molluscan Studies . 74 . 2 . 2008 . 143–81 . 10.1093/mollus/eyn002. free .
   • Kelaart, E.F. (1858). Description of new and little known species of Ceylon nudibranchiate molluscs and zoophytes. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Columbo, 3(1): 94-95. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43940440

   External links