Nudibranch

Nudibranch
Berghia coerulescens
Chromodoris lochi pair in Puerto Galera, the Philippines
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Infraclass: Euthyneura
Subterclass: Ringipleura
Superorder: Nudipleura
Order: Nudibranchia
Cuvier, 1817
Clades

See text for superfamilies

Diversity[1]
About 3000 species

Nudibranchs (/ˈnjuːdɪbræŋk/[2]) belong to the order Nudibranchia, a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs that shed their shells after their larval stage.[3] They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, such as "clown", "marigold", "splendid", "dancer", "dragon", and[4] "sea rabbit".[5] Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known.[6]

The word nudibranch comes from the Latin nudus 'naked' and the Ancient Greek βράγχια (bránkhia) 'gills'.

Nudibranchs are often casually called sea slugs, as they are a family of opisthobranchs (sea slugs), within the phylum Mollusca (molluscs), but many sea slugs belong to several taxonomic groups that are not closely related to nudibranchs. A number of these other sea slugs, such as the photosynthetic Sacoglossa and the colourful Aglajidae, are often confused with nudibranchs.

  1. ^ Wägele, H.; Klussmann-Kolb, A. (2005). "Opisthobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) more than just slimy slugs. Shell reduction and its implications on defence and foraging". Frontiers in Zoology. 2 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-2-3. PMC 554092. PMID 15715915.
  2. ^ Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2nd edition), ISBN 0-582-36467-1
  3. ^ Thompson, T. E. (2009). "Feeding in nudibranch larvae" (PDF). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 38 (2): 239–248. doi:10.1017/S0025315400006044. S2CID 86275359.
  4. ^ Turnbull, John (Spring 2016). "The Nudibranch – Creature Feature". Nature New South Wales. 60 (3): 16–17.
  5. ^ Bronson, Wilfrid (1935). Water People.
  6. ^ Ocean Portal (2017). A Collage of Nudibranch Colors. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 17 April 2018.