Trimusculus reticulatus

Manker, D. C. and Faulkner, D. J., Diterpenes from the marine pulmonate Trimusculus reticulatus, Tetrahedron, 43, 3677, 1987. 

Manker, D.C. and Faulkner, D.J., Investigation of the role of diterpenes produced by marine pulmo-nates Trimusculus reticulatus and /. conica, J. Chem. Ecol., 22, 23, 1996. 

When disturbed the marine limpet Trimusculus reticulatus produces a copious amount of a milky white mucus that repels predatory star fish. A dichloromethane extract of the whole... 

Trimusculus only labdane diterpenes. In both genera these derivahves are probably defense allomones against predators and epibiosis. Indeed, they were all isolated from the mucus that covers the animal, and some diterpenes of Trimusculus reticulatus have been shown to repel seastars. The origin of these terpenes (from food, with or without biotransformation, or by de novo biosynthesis) remains imclear, although there are some structural similarities with algal metabolites. Some terpenes from pulmonates are presented in Figure 23.32. 

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