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 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 time ...
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, ...
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 ...
Flabellinidae
Flabellinidae is a taxonomic family of brightly coloured sea slugs, specifically nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known a ...
.
Taxonomic history
The genus ''Flabellina'' was established by
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...
in 1833 with the type species ''Flabellina affinis'' and characterised by the
cerata
:''The tortrix moth genus ''Cerata'' is considered a junior synonym of ''Cydia.
Cerata, singular ceras, are anatomical structures found externally in nudibranch sea slugs, especially in aeolid nudibranchs, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks ...
being arranged on peduncles and the
rhinophore
A rhinophore is one of a pair of chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks such as the nudibranchs, sea ha ...
s being annulate. Many species were added by subsequent authors. In 1981 the genus '' Coryphella'' was merged under the older name ''Flabellina'' as despite a large range of morphological characters in the 64 species of Flabellinidae and Coryphellidae known at that time, no clear distinction could be found to separate the species into the two genera. In 2017 an integrative study of the 71 species then considered to be included in ''Flabellina'' redistributed the species into seven families and 26 genera.
Species
Species currently included in this genus are:
* ''
Flabellina affinis
''Flabellina affinis'' is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Flabellinidae.
Distribution
This species is found in depths to 50 m in European waters in the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal to Ghana ...
Luisella babai
''Luisella babai'' is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Samlidae.
Etymology
The specific epithet ''babai'' honors the Japanese malacologist Kikutaro Baba.Flabellina baetica'' Garcia-Gomez, 1984 synonym of '' Baenopsis baetica (Garcia-Gomez, 1984)
* '' Flabellina bicolor'' (Kelaart, 1858) synonym of '' Samla bicolor (Kelaart, 1858)
* '' Flabellina bilas'' Gosliner & Willan, 1991Gosliner T. M. & Willan R. C. (1991). "Review of the Flabellinidae (Nudibranchia: Aeolidacea) from the tropical Indo-Pacific, with the descriptions of five new species". ''The Veliger'' 34(2) 97 133 page 109 synonym of ''
Samla bilas
''Samla bilas'' is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine heterobranch mollusc in the family Samlidae.Rosenberg, G. (2015)''Flabellina bilas'' (Gosliner & Willan, 1991).In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register o ...
Paraflabellina funeka
The purple lady nudibranch, ''Paraflabellina funeka'', is a species of aeolid nudibranch, and is a very colourful sea slug. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Flabellinidae.Rosenberg, G. (2012)''Flabellina funeka''.Accessed thro ...
Flabellinopsis iodinea
''Flabellinopsis iodinea'', the Spanish shawl, is a species of aeolid nudibranch, a very colorful sea slug. This is a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Flabellinidae.
Distribution
This species is native to the west coast of North America a ...
(J. G. Cooper, 1863)
* '' Flabellina ischitana'' Hirano & Thompson, 1990 synonym of ''
Paraflabellina ischitana
''Paraflabellina ischitana'' is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Flabellinidae.
Etymology
The name ''ischitana'' means from Ischia, the island from where this nudibranch was first named.
...
Paraflabellina rubromaxilla
''Paraflabellina'' is a genus of sea slugs, aeolid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Flabellinidae.Picton, B. (2018)''Paraflabellina'' Korshunova, Martynov, Bakken, Evertsen, Fletcher, Mudianta, Saito, Lundin, Schrödl & Pi ...