Dotidae are a taxonomic

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of small

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary tim ...

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, ...

s, shell-less

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is est ...

s formerly assigned to the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Opisthobranchia Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopi ...

, but now considered to belong to the clade

Dexiarchia The Dexiarchia are a suborder of sea slugs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs in the order Nudibranchia. This classification is based on the study by Schrödl ''et al.,'' published in 2001, who recognized within this clade two clades Pseudoeu ...

. This family has also been spelled in the past as "Dotonidae" and "Dotoidae". The

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

(ICZN) decided in 1964 that neither spelling was correct and adopted Dotidae Gray, 1853 as the accepted name for this family.

Distribution

This family occurs worldwide in cold and warm seas.

Genera

Genera within the family Dotidae include:Bouchet, P. (2015)
Dotidae.
In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-06-24 * '' Caecinella'' Bergh, 1870 * '' Doto'' Oken, 1815 * '' Kabeiro'' Shipman & Gosliner, 2015 * '' Miesea'' Marcus, 1961 Synonyms include: * '' Gellina'' Gray, 1850

References

External links

*
SeaSlugForum overall list

Photos of Dotidae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3141602 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Gastropod families