Family
Eubranchid nudibranchs
Eubranchidae
- Species in the gallery
- 7
- Genera
- 1
Back to superfamily Fionoid nudibranchs (Flabellina and relatives)Back to sub-order Cladobranch nudibranchsBack to order NudibranchsBack to the gallery
Description
Eubranchidae is a family of small aeolid nudibranchs in the superfamily Fionoidea (suborder Cladobranchia). After recent molecular revisions WoRMS lists about 16 genera, with Eubranchus by far the largest. Members occur worldwide from polar to tropical seas, including the Mediterranean, and most are only a few millimetres to about 2 cm long. They feed on hydroids and, like other aeolids, store the prey's stinging cells (nematocysts) in the tips of their cerata for defence.
Identification
Look for a tiny aeolid with swollen, often bulbous or club-shaped cerata that are frequently ringed or studded with small tubercles. The rhinophores are smooth, the oral tentacles are fairly short and the front of the foot is rounded rather than drawn out into long corners. The inflated, knobbly cerata separate them from Trinchesiidae, whose cerata are smooth and spindle-shaped, and from Flabellinidae-type aeolids with ringed or perfoliate rhinophores.
Genera
7 species
Sources (3)
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/family/Eubranchidae/