| Tritoniidae | |
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| A live individual ofTritonia festivain situ | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Cladobranchia |
| Superfamily: | Tritonioidea Lamarck, 1809 |
| Family: | Tritoniidae Menke, 1828 |
| Synonyms | |
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Tritoniidae is ataxonomicfamily ofnudibranchs in the suborderCladobranchia, shell-lessmarinegastropodmolluscs.[1] This family includes some of the largest known nudibranchs, with the NE Atlantic speciesTritonia hombergii reaching 20 cm in length. It is the only family in themonotypic superfamilyTritonioidea.
These nudibranchs occur worldwide in warm and temperate seas and in the coldest waters and deep sea, wherever theoctocorals which they eat are found.
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 theArminidae 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]
The genera in the family Tritoniidae include:
Authority control databases: National |
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