Tethydidae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
dendronotid 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 mat ...
gastropod mollusk
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 es ...
s in the superfamily
Tritonioidea
Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranchia, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs.MolluscaBase (2018)Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809.Accessed on 2021-01-01 This family includes some of the largest known nudibranchs, ...
.
[Picton, B.; Bouchet, P. (2017). Tethydidae Rafinesque, 1815. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=23125 on 2017-12-20]
The original spelling (subfamily) is Tethydia. It was placed on the Official List by Opinion 1182 of ICZN (1981: 174), which also ruled that the name should be corrected to Tethydidae (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Taxonomy
This family is within the clade
Cladobranchia
The Cladobranchia are a taxonomic clade of nudibranchs, sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Dexiarchia.
Taxonomy clade Metarminida
* Superfamily Metarminoidea This name is not available as a Superfamily name as it is not base ...
and has no subfamilies (according to the
taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Genera
There are two
[Gosliner T. M. & Smith V. G. (2003). "Systematic review and phylogenetic analysis of the nudibranch genus ''Melibe'' (Opistobranchia: Dendronotacea) with descriptions of three new species". ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences'' 54: 302-355]
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genera within the family Tethydidae:
* ''
Melibe
''Melibe'' is a genus of sea slugs, nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Tethydidae.
Most nudibranchs are carnivores, but their prey is usually sessile or slow-moving animals such as sponges or bryozoans. In contrast, ''Melibe ...
''
Rang, 1829
* ''
Tethys''
Linnaeus, 1767 - the
type genus
In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
Zoological nomenclature
According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nomina ...
,
;Genera brought into synonymy :
* ''Chioraera''
Gould, 1852 accepted as ''Melibe''
Rang, 1829
* ''Fimbria''
O'Donoghue, 1926: synonym of ''Tethys''
Linnaeus, 1767 (invalid: junior homonym of Fimbria Megerle, 1811.)
* ''Jacunia''
de Filippi, 1867 accepted as ''Melibe''
Rang, 1829
* ''Melibaea'' synonym of ''Melibe''
Rang, 1829
* ''Meliboea''
ic: ''Melibe''
Rang, 1829 (incorrect subsequent spelling
y Forbes, 1838of Melibe Rang, 1829)
* ''Propemelibe''
Allan, 1932 accepted as ''Melibe''
Rang, 1829
Description
Species in this family do not possess a
radula
The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...
.
[ Rudman W. B. (14 October 2002]
"http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=tethfimb"
Sea Slug Forum, accessed 29 December 2010.
References
External links
Forbes E. (1844). Report on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Aegean sea, and on their distribution, considered as bearing on geology. Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1843. 130-193 Goodheart, J. A.; Bazinet, A. L.; Valdés, Á.; Collins, A. G.; Cummings, M. P. (2017). Prey preference follows phylogeny: evolutionary dietary patterns within the marine gastropod group Cladobranchia (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Nudibranchia). BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17(1)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q32604
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque