The sacoglossans (Gastropoda Heterobranchia) of the central-eastern coast of Sicily (Ionian Sea)

The sacoglossans are a group of marine heterobranchs, distributed in tropical and temperate waters, which are specialised in sucking the cellular fluids of siphonal green algae and other macroalgae. In the present study all the species detected along the central-eastern coast of Sicily from 2017 to the beginning of 2021 are here reported. For each species, observations on morphology, abundance, location, depth, substrates, habitats, seasonality and further remarks were carried out. Through this research, it was highlighted that along the centraleastern coast of Sicily there is almost the 43% of all Mediterranean (including the Black Sea) sacoglossan species. Consequently, although this area is relatively small, it presents a high level of biodiversity regarding this group of gastropods.