Arminidae Explained

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 of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

This family has been renamed several times. It was originally named by d'Orbigny in 1841 as Diphyllidiidae, by H. Adams and A. Adams as Pleurophyllidiidae in 1854, by Bergh as Pleuroleuridae in 1874, by Verrill and Emerton as Heterodorididae in 1882, by P. Fischer as Dermatobranchidae in 1883 and as Atthilidae by Bergh in 1899. The name Arminidae is now in prevailing usage.

Genera

The type genus is Armina Rafinesque, 1814

Genera in the family Arminidae include:

• Armina Rafinesque, 1814
• Dermatobranchus van Hasselt, 1824
• Histiomena Mörch, 1860
• Heterodoris Verrill & Emerton, 1882 . This is a genus, only known from a few specimens
  • Heterodoris antipodes Willan, 1981 (Tasman Sea)
  • Heterodoris ingolfiana (south of Iceland)
  • Heterodoris robusta Verrill & Emerton, 1882 (North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean)
• Pleurophyllidiella Eliot, 1903
• Pleurophyllidiopsis Tchang-Si, 1934
• Sancara

Species brought into synonymy :

• Camarga : synonym of Histiomena Mörch, 1860
• Diphyllidia : synonym of Armina Rafinesque, 1814
• Linguella Férussac, 1822: synonym of Armina Rafinesque, 1814
• Pleuroleura : synonym of Dermatobranchus van Hasselt, 1824
• Pleurophyllidia : synonym of Armina Rafinesque, 1814

References

• Gary R. McDonald, University of California Santa Cruz; 29 July 2006, "Nudibranch Systematic Index", University of California Santa Cruz
• Kolb, A. . H. Wägele . amp . On the phylogeny of the Arminidae (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Nudibranchia) with considerations of biogeography. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research . 1998. 36. 53–64 . 10.1111/j.1439-0469.1998.tb00777.x.
• Vaught, K.C. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). . XII, 195 pp

Further reading

Two readings about Heterodoris:

• Willan, R.C.. A new abyssal arminacean nudibranch from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 1981. 8. 325–330. 10.1080/03014223.1981.10430612. free.
• Verrill, A.A. . Emerton, J.H. . amp . Catalogue of marine mollusca added to the fauna of the New England region during the past 10 years. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Science. 1882. 5. 2. 548–549.