Tritoniidae

Tritoniidae
	A live individual of Tritonia festiva in situ
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Heterobranchia
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Cladobranchia
Superfamily:	Tritonioidea; Lamarck, 1809
Family:	Tritoniidae; Menke, 1828
Synonyms
	Aranucidae Odhner, 1936; Duvauceliidae Iredale & O'Donoghue, 1923;

Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranchia, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs.^[1] This family includes some of the largest known nudibranchs, with the NE Atlantic species Tritonia hombergii reaching 20 cm in length. It is the only family in the monotypic superfamily Tritonioidea.

Distribution[edit]

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[edit]

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]

Genera[edit]

The genera in the family Tritoniidae include:

Duvaucelia Risso, 1826
Marianina Pruvot-Fol, 1931
Marionia Vayssiere, 1877
Paratritonia Baba, 1949
Tochuina Odhner, 1963
Tritonia Cuvier, 1798
Tritonicula Korshunova & Martynov, 2020
Tritonidoxa Bergh, 1907
Tritoniella Eliot, 1907
Tritoniopsis Eliot, 1905

References[edit]

^ MolluscaBase (2018). Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809. Accessed on 2021-01-01
^ García-Matucheski, S. and Muniain, C. (2011). Predation by the nudibranch Tritonia odhneri (Opisthobranchia:Tritoniidae) on octocorals from the South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Biodiversity, 41(2), 287–297.
^ Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A. (2020). Consolidated data on the phylogeny and evolution of the family Tritoniidae (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) contribute to genera reassessment and clarify the taxonomic status of the neuroscience models Tritonia and Tochuina. PLOS ONE. 15(11): e0242103.

[WoRMS-1] MolluscaBase (2018). Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809. Accessed on 2021-01-01

[2] García-Matucheski, S. and Muniain, C. (2011). Predation by the nudibranch Tritonia odhneri (Opisthobranchia:Tritoniidae) on octocorals from the South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Biodiversity, 41(2), 287–297.

[KM2021-3] Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A. (2020). Consolidated data on the phylogeny and evolution of the family Tritoniidae (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) contribute to genera reassessment and clarify the taxonomic status of the neuroscience models Tritonia and Tochuina. PLOS ONE. 15(11): e0242103.

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