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Tritoniidae is a family of nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs or sea slugs, and the only member of the superfamily Tritonioidea and the suborder Tritoniacea.[1] This family includes some of the largest known nudibranchs, with the NE Atlantic species Tritonia hombergii reaching 20 cm in length.

Distribution

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

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]

Taxonomy

Distributed among two subfamilies, the following genera are recognised in the family Tritoniidae:[4][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Korshunova, Tatiana; Fletcher, Karin; Martynov, Alexander (2025-08-01). “The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case”. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204 (4). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057. ISSN 0024-4082.
  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.
  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.
  4. ^ a b De Vasconcelos Silva, Felipe; Pola, Marta; Cervera, Juan Lucas (2023-10-03). “A stomach plate to divide them all: a phylogenetic reassessment of the family Tritoniidae (Nudibranchia: Cladobranchia)”. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 199 (2): 445–476. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad013. ISSN 0024-4082.
  5. ^ Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). “Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809”. MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-03-22.