Eubranchidae Explained

Eubranchidae is a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Aeolidioidea, the aeolid nudibranchs.^[1]

Taxonomic history

The genera in this family were moved to the family Fionidae as a result of a molecular phylogenetics study.^[2] This was reversed in 2017 with further DNA evidence and a re-interpretation of genus and family characteristics.^[3]

Genera and species

Genera and species within the family Eubranchidae include:

• Aenigmastyletus Martynov, 1998
  • Aenigmastyletus alexei Martynov, 1998
• Amphorina Quatrefages, 1844
• Capellinia Trinchese, 1874
• Eubranchopsis
  • Eubranchopsis virginalis Baba, 1949
• Eubranchus Forbes, 1838 - 44 species
• Galvinella Eliot, 1907
  • Galvinella antarctica Eliot, 1907
• Leostyletus Martynov, 1998
  • Leostyletus misakiensis (Baba, 1960)
  • Leostyletus pseudomisakiensis Martynov, 1998

Subfamilies and genera brought into synonymy:

• Dunga Eliot, 1902: synonym of Eubranchus Forbes, 1838
• Egalvina Odhner, 1929: synonym of Eubranchus Forbes, 1838
• Galvina Alder & Hancock, 1855: synonym of Eubranchus Forbes, 1838
• Nudibranchus Martynov, 1998: synonym of Eubranchus Forbes, 1838
• Produnga Martynov, 1998: synonym of Eubranchus Forbes, 1838

Notes and References

1. Caballer, M.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Eubranchidae. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-12-26
2. Cella, K; Carmona Barnosi, L.; Ekimova, I; Chichvarkhin, A; Schepetov, D; Gosliner, T. M. (2016). A radical solution: The phylogeny of the nudibranch family Fionidae. PLoS ONE. 11(12): e0167800.
3. Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A.; Picton, B. (2017). Ontogeny as an important part of integrative taxonomy in tergipedid aeolidaceans (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) with a description of a new genus and species from the Barents Sea. Zootaxa. 4324(1): 1.