Tritoniella belli

Bathydoris hodgsoni can be found in the deep waters of the Weddell Sea. This nudibranch elaborates the drimane sesquiterpene hodgsonal (Structure 7.78) and sequesters it in its mantle tissues.50 164The nudibranch Tritoniella belli collected from McMurdo Sound is the only documented example of an Antarctic mollusc sequestering defensive chemistry from its diet.44 Among the glyceride esters (Structures 7.79-7.81) isolated from this species, chimyl alcohol (Structure 7.79) can also be found in one of its prey items, the stoloniferan coral Clavularia frankliniana. Sequestration of these defensive chemicals is opportunistic, however, and other, still undescribed metabolites are more commonly associated with defense in this mollusc.49... 

Only one report of Antarctic soft coral secondary metabolite chemistry has appeared in the literature. As described above, the stoloniferan coral Clavularia frankliniana has been demonstrated to produce fatty glyceride esters, chimyl alcohol (Structure 7.79) in particular, that are also found in its predator, the nudibranch Tritoniella belli.44 Chimyl alcohol has been investigated in ecological bioassays and has been implicated in deterring predation by the omnivorous sea star Odontaster validus.44... 

Chimyl alcohol (Structure 7.79), isolated from the mantle tissues of the nudibranch Tritoniella belli,44 caused rejection by O. validus of shrimp-treated disks at natural tissue-level concentrations. T. belli sequesters this defensive chemistry from its diet, the stoloniferan coral Clavularia franklin-iana. Sequestration of chimyl alcohol from the diet, however, seems to be opportunistic, and T. belli also provisions its mucus with other yet undescribed deterrent natural products.49 Chimyl alcohol is reported from other non-Antarctic molluscs209 and has been demonstrated to function as an antibacterial and a fish antifeedant at levels found in the tissues of the dorid nudibranchs Archidoris montereyensis and Aldisa sanguinea cooperi.210... 

McClintock, J. B., Baker, B. J., Slattery, M., Heine, J. N., Bryan, P. J., Yoshida, W., Davies-Coleman, M. T., and Faulkner, D. J., Chemical defense of the common Antarctic shallow-water nudibranch Tritoniella belli (Mollusca Tritonidae) and its prey, Clavularia frankliniana Rouel (Cnidaria Octocorallia), J. Chem. Ecol., 20, 3361, 1994. 

Bryan P. J., McClintock, J. B., and Baker, B. J., Population biology and antipredator defenses of the shallow water antarctic nudibranch Tritoniella belli, Mar. Biol., 132, 259, 1998. 

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