The pteropod (Euthecosomata) and heteropod (Atlantidae) diversity of North West Borneo, based on inshore to oceanic sediment samples

Pelagic marine gastropods are functionally important to oceanic ecosystems, yet their species diversity is poorly known for the South China Sea (SCS). This paper describes the pteropod and heteropod diversity based on depositional sediment collections from 21 localities across North West Borneo (NWB), including intertidal (beached), continental shelf, continental slope and atoll biotopes. The paper briefly describes the species and assesses their local distributions spatially and with respect to environmental setting (sediment properties and seawater depth). The collections were found to contain 24 pteropod and 12 heteropod (atlantid) species. On the Brunei shelf, community structure is strongly influenced by the heteropod component, which increased in species richness along a depth gradient. It also shows that seabed sediment samples are seen as good indicators of the planktonic species in the above water column. Eleven pteropod species are newly recorded for NWB, and all of the atlantid species represent new records for this region and southern/central SCS. This study highlights the scarcity of information available for regional coastal pelagic gastropod diversities.

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