Tritoniidae

Family of gastropods From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tritoniidae is a family of nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs or sea slugs, and the only member of the superfamily Tritonioidea and the suborder Tritoniacea.[1] This family includes some of the largest known nudibranchs, with the NE Atlantic species Tritonia hombergii reaching 20 cm in length.

Phylum:Mollusca
Class:Gastropoda
Order:Nudibranchia
Suborder:Tritoniacea
Lamarck, 1809 sensu Minichev and Starobogatov, 1979[1]
Quick facts Scientific classification, Synonyms ...
Tritoniidae
A live individual of Tritonia festiva in situ
A live individual of Marionia blainvillea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Tritoniacea
Lamarck, 1809 sensu Minichev and Starobogatov, 1979[1]
Superfamily: Tritonioidea
Lamarck, 1809
Family: Tritoniidae
Menke, 1828
Synonyms
  • Aranucidae Odhner, 1936
  • Duvauceliidae Iredale & O'Donoghue, 1923
  • Marianinidae Odhner, 1968
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Distribution

These nudibranchs occur worldwide in warm and temperate seas and in the coldest waters and deep sea, wherever the octocorals which they eat are found.

Ecology

Members of the family Tritoniidae feed on octocorals, including sea pens, alcyonarian soft corals, and gorgonians, often being cryptic in shape and colouration upon them.[2] They share this trait with the Arminidae which were previously thought to be only distantly related, but have been shown to be closely related to the Tritoniidae by a recent study.[3]

Taxonomy

Distributed among two subfamilies, the following genera are recognised in the family Tritoniidae:[4][5]

References

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