''Tochuina'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of sea slugs, tritonid
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 match, ...
s,
marine 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 e ...
s in the family
Tritoniidae
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, ...
.
[MolluscaBase (2018)]
''Tochuina'' Odhner, 1963.
Accessed on 2021-01-06.
Taxonomy
The species composition of ''Tochuina'' was clarified in 2020 as a result of an integrative taxonomic study of the family Tritoniidae.
[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. ''Tochuina'' differs from ''Tritonia'' in having a non-bilobed oral veil and the clade is supported by DNA phylogeny. An interesting finding was that the tritoniid genus ''Tochuina'' not only shows an intriguing morphological similarity to ''
Doridoxa'' and ''
Heterodoris'' but clusters close to these genera, which themselves cluster with the family
Arminidae
Arminidae is a family of sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Arminoidea.
Taxonomy
The family Arminidae is classified within the clade Cladobranchia, itself belonging to the clade Nudibranchia (according to the taxonomy ...
, in a molecular tree within the
Dendronotoidea
Dendronotoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of small colorful sea slugs or nudibranchs, aeolid nudibranchs. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Dendronotoidea Allman, 1845. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.ma ...
.
Species
Species within the genus ''Tochuina'' include:
* ''
Tochuina gigantea''
(Bergh, 1904)
* ''
Tochuina nigritigris''
(Valdés, Lundsten & Wilson, 2018)
* ''
Tochuina nigromaculata''
(Roginskaya, 1984)
Species placed in synonymy:
* ''Tochuina tetraquetra'' (Pallas, 1788) accepted as ''
Tritonia tetraquetra'' (Pallas, 1788)
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7812016
Tritoniidae