Xibalbanus tulumensis, a venomous remipede found in anchialine caves on the Yucatán Peninsula, is the only crustacean for which a venom system has been described.
“Venomous animals inject their toxic compounds into other organisms primarily for self-defense or predation,” said Dr. Björn von Reumont, a researcher at Goethe University Frankfurt, and his colleagues.
“Numerous venoms comprise proteins that have evolved to modulate a range of physiological functions in their target organisms.”
“Investigating these bioactivities may lead to pharmacological or agrochemical applications.”
“The majority of venoms and venom proteins that have been thoroughly studied mainly originate from iconic and terrestrial groups such as snakes, spiders, scorpions, and insects,” they said.
“Marine species have received limited research attention, with only a small number of fish and invertebrate species — such as sea anemones, jellyfish, cone snails, cephalopods, polychaetes, and recently nemerteans — being better studied.”
“As venoms and their toxic proteins have independently evolved in various animal lineages, researching new lineages presents on the one hand an opportunity to identify novel venom compounds with interesting bioactivity and on the other hand to enhance our understanding of the evolution of convergent functional traits generally.”
In their study, the researchers investigated the bioactivity of peptides found in venom of the crustacean species Xibalbanus tulumensis.
This underwater cave-dwelling crustacean belongs to the class Remipedia, which was first described in the 1980s and currently comprises 28 living species.
“Xibalbanus tulumensis lives in the cenotes which are the underwater cave systems on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula,” the scientists said.
“The cave dweller injects the venom produced in its venom gland directly into its prey.”
“This toxin contains a variety of components, including a new type of peptide, named…
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