Aeolidacea
Taxonomy
The following superfamilies and families are recognised in the suborder Aeolidacea, following the 2025 revision of the taxonomy of Aeolidacea by Korshunova and colleagues based on the results of molecular phylogenetic analyses. Families interpreted as synonyms under the scheme presented by Ekimova et al. (2026) are identified:
Superfamily Aeolidioidea Gray, 1827
Superfamily Apataoidea Korshunova et al., 2017
Superfamily Cumanotoidea Odhner, 1907
Superfamily Chudoidea Korshunova, Fletcher & Martynov, 2025
Family Chudidae Korshunova, Fletcher & Martynov, 2025
Superfamily Embletonioidea Pruvot-Fol, 1954
Superfamily Fionoidea Gray, 1857
Family Abronicidae Korshunova et al., 2017
Family Calmidae Iredale and O’Donoghue, 1923
Family Cuthonellidae Miller, 1971
Family Cuthonidae Odhner, 1934
Family Eubranchidae Odhner, 1934
Family Fionidae Gray, 1857
Family Murmaniidae Korshunova et al., 2017
Family Tergipedidae Bergh, 1889
Family Trinchesiidae Nordsieck, 1972
Family Xenocratenidae Martynov et al., 2020
Superfamily Flabellinoidea Bergh, 1889
Superfamily Flabellinopsoidea Korshunova et al., 2017
Superfamily Notaeolidioidea Eliot, 1910
Superfamily Samloidea Korshunova et al., 2017
Superfamily Unidentioidea Millen and Hermosillo, 2012
Superfamily incertae sedis
References
↑ Odhner, N. H. (1934). "The Nudibranchiata" . British Antarctic ('Terra Nova') Expedition, 1910. British Museum (Natural History) Natural History Report, Zoology . 7 (5): 229– 310.
1 2 Korshunova, Tatiana; Fletcher, Karin; Martynov, Alexander (2025-08-01). "The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case" . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 204 (4) zlaf057. doi :10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057 . ISSN 0024-4082 .
1 2 3 4 5 Ekimova, Irina; Carmona, Leila; Mikhlina, Anna L.; Grishina, Darya; Stanovova, Maria V.; Schepetov, Dimitry M.; Hoover, Craig; Souza-Canal, Jade de; Kuznetsov, Karen O.; Valdés, Ángel (2026-05-20). "Neither "lumpers" nor "splitters": A global revision of Flabellinidae s.l. nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Nudibranchia)" . PLOS ONE . 21 (5) e0347759. Bibcode :2026PLoSO..2147759E . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0347759 . ISSN 1932-6203 . PMC 13189321 . PMID 42160278 .
Further reading
T. E., Thompson; Brown, G. H. (1984). Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs . Vol. 2. London: The Ray Society Publishing. pp. 1– 229.
Goodheart, Jessica A.; Bleidißel, Sabrina; Schillo, Dorothee; Strong, Ellen E.; Ayres, Daniel L.; Preisfeld, Angelika; Collins, Allen G.; Cummings, Michael P.; Wägele, Heike (2018-11-13). "Comparative morphology and evolution of the cnidosac in Cladobranchia (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Nudibranchia)" . Frontiers in Zoology . 15 (1): 43. doi :10.1186/s12983-018-0289-2 . ISSN 1742-9994 . PMC 6234619 . PMID 30473719 .
Korshunova, Tatiana; Martynov, Alexander; Picton, Bernard (2017-09-26). "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– 22. doi :10.11646/zootaxa.4324.1.1 . ISSN 1175-5334 .
Korshunova, Tatiana; Martynov, Alexander; Bakken, Torkild; Evertsen, Jussi; Fletcher, Karin; Mudianta, I. Wayan; Saito, Hirorshi; Lundin, Kennet; Schrödl, Michael; Picton, Bernard (2017-11-30). "Polyphyly of the traditional family Flabellinidae affects a major group of Nudibranchia: aeolidacean taxonomic reassessment with descriptions of several new families, genera, and species (Mollusca, Gastropoda)" . ZooKeys (717): 1– 139. Bibcode :2017ZooK..717....1K . doi :10.3897/zookeys.717.21885 . ISSN 1313-2970 . PMC 5784208 . PMID 29391848 .
Martynov, Alexander; Lundin, Kennet; Picton, Bernard; Fletcher, Karin; Malmberg, Klas; Korshunova, Tatiana (2020-01-15). "Multiple paedomorphic lineages of soft-substrate burrowing invertebrates: parallels in the origin of Xenocratena and Xenoturbella" . PLOS ONE . 15 (1) e0227173. Bibcode :2020PLoSO..1527173M . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0227173 . ISSN 1932-6203 . PMC 6961895 . PMID 31940379 .
Karmeinski, Dario; Meusemann, Karen; Goodheart, Jessica A.; Schroedl, Michael; Martynov, Alexander; Korshunova, Tatiana; Wägele, Heike; Donath, Alexander (2021-12-28). "Transcriptomics provides a robust framework for the relationships of the major clades of cladobranch sea slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Heterobranchia), but fails to resolve the position of the enigmatic genus Embletonia" . BMC Ecology and Evolution . 21 (1): 226. doi :10.1186/s12862-021-01944-0 . ISSN 2730-7182 . PMC 8895541 . PMID 34963462 .