Family
Fionid nudibranchs
Fionidae
- Species in the gallery
- 1
- Genera
- 1
Back to superfamily Fionoid nudibranchs (Flabellina and relatives)Back to sub-order Cladobranch nudibranchsBack to order NudibranchsBack to the gallery
Description
Fionidae is the type family of the superfamily Fionoidea (suborder Cladobranchia), a group of aeolid nudibranchs. In its current narrow sense WoRMS includes the genera Fiona, Tergiposacca and Zatteria; earlier broad concepts that merged many tergipedid aeolids into Fionidae have been abandoned. The best-known member, Fiona pinnata, is an oceanic species found worldwide in warm and temperate seas, living on floating objects and drifting animals. It feeds on pelagic prey such as goose barnacles and by-the-wind sailors (Velella).
Identification
Fiona pinnata is a pale, often bluish, brown or purplish aeolid with smooth rhinophores and many crowded cerata, each bearing a thin wavy membrane along its inner side. Finding it on driftwood, floats or other drifting objects at the surface, rather than on the reef, is itself a strong clue. The sail-like ceratal membrane is not seen in other aeolid families.
Genera
1 species
Sources (3)
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