Chemical diversity in opisthobranch molluscs from scarcely investigated Indo-Pacific areas.

Opisthobranch molluscs with both a rich variety of secondary metabolites and great biomedical potential represent the most intensively studied group of molluscs in natural product chemistry. We review here the chemical investigations into secondary metabolites of "sea slugs" from less-studied Indian, Chinese and Egyptian coasts, giving an overview of their most relevant biological activities. In addition to the biomedical interest of the metabolites, in which both structures and organisms often lose their own importance, this chapter emphasizes the phyletic and geographic distribution of the compounds in order to provide a further informational base for chemotaxonomical generalizations.