Dotidae are a
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of small
sea slug
Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary t ...
s,
nudibranch
Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to matc ...
s, shell-less
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
s formerly assigned to the
order Opisthobranchia
Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.
Euopisth ...
, but now considered to belong to the clade
Dexiarchia
The Dexiarchia are a suborder of sea slugs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs in the order Nudibranchia.
This classification is based on the study by Schrödl ''et al.,'' published in 2001, who recognized within this clade two clades Pseudoeu ...
.
This family has also been spelled in the past as "Dotonidae" and "Dotoidae". The
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
(ICZN) decided in 1964 that neither spelling was correct and adopted Dotidae
Gray, 1853 as the accepted name for this family.
Distribution
This family occurs worldwide in cold and warm seas.
Genera
Genera within the family Dotidae include:
[Bouchet, P. (2015)]
Dotidae.
In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-06-24
* ''
Caecinella''
Bergh, 1870
* ''
Doto''
Oken, 1815
* ''
Kabeiro''
Shipman & Gosliner, 2015
* ''
Miesea''
Marcus, 1961
Synonyms include:
* ''
Gellina''
Gray, 1850
References
External links
*
SeaSlugForum overall listPhotos of Dotidae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3141602
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
Gastropod families