Tritoniidae

{{Short description|Family of gastropods}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Tritonia festiva.jpg | image_caption = A live individual of ''Tritonia festiva'' in situ | image2 = Marionia blainvillea (Risso, 1818) et Chiton olivaceus Spengler, 1797.jpg | image2_caption = A live individual of ''Marionia blainvillea'' | grandparent_authority = Lamarck, 1809 sensu Minichev and Starobogatov, 1979<ref name=Korshunova_et_al2025/> | parent_authority = Lamarck, 1809 | taxon = Tritoniidae | authority = Menke, 1828 | synonyms = * Aranucidae Odhner, 1936 * Duvauceliidae Iredale & O'Donoghue, 1923 * Marianinidae Odhner, 1968 }}

'''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'''.<ref name=Korshunova_et_al2025>{{Cite journal |last=Korshunova |first=Tatiana |last2=Fletcher |first2=Karin |last3=Martynov |first3=Alexander |date=2025-08-01 |title=The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057/8237533 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=204 |issue=4 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057 |issn=0024-4082|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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.<ref>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.</ref> 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.<ref name=KM2021>Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A. (2020). [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242103 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.</ref>

==Taxonomy== Distributed among two subfamilies, the following genera are recognised in the family Tritoniidae:<ref name=Silva_et_al2023>{{Cite journal |last=De Vasconcelos Silva |first=Felipe |last2=Pola |first2=Marta |last3=Cervera |first3=Juan Lucas |date=2023-10-03 |title=A stomach plate to divide them all: a phylogenetic reassessment of the family Tritoniidae (Nudibranchia: Cladobranchia) |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/199/2/445/7222883 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=199 |issue=2 |pages=445–476 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad013 |issn=0024-4082}}</ref><ref>{{Cite WoRMS|title=Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809|id=183|access-date=2026-03-22|db=MolluscaBase}}</ref> * Subfamily '''Marioniinae''' F. V. Silva, Pola & Cervera, 2023<ref name=Silva_et_al2023/> ** Genus ''Marionia'' Vayssière, 1877 ** Genus ''Marioniopsis'' Odhner, 1934 ** Genus ''Paratritonia'' Baba, 1949 * Subfamily '''Tritoniinae''' Lamarck, 1809 ** Genus ''Candiella'' J. E. Gray, 1850 ** Genus ''Marianina'' Pruvot-Fol, 1931 ** Genus ''Myrella'' Odhner, 1963 ** Genus ''Tochuina'' Odhner, 1963 ** Genus ''Tritonia'' Cuvier, 1797 ** Genus ''Tritonicula'' Korshunova & Martynov, 2020 ** Genus ''Tritonidoxa'' Bergh, 1907 ** Genus ''Tritoniella'' Eliot, 1907 ** Genus ''Tritoniopsis'' Eliot, 1905

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Tritoniidae Category:Gastropod families Category:Taxa named by Karl Theodor Menke