''Bornellidae'' is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs, belonging to the order Nudibranchia, that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have b ...

sea slug - marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s in the superfamily

Dendronotoidea Dendronotoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of small colorful sea slugs or nudibranchs, aeolid nudibranchs.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Dendronotoidea Allman, 1845. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.ma ...

. This family is within the clade

Cladobranchia The Cladobranchia are a taxonomic clade of nudibranchs, sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Dexiarchia. Taxonomy clade Metarminida * Superfamily Metarminoidea This name is not available as a Superfamily name as it is not based on ...

(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Description

Nudibranch species within the ''Bornellidae'' family have elongated bodies, with pairs of cerata-like dorsal and lateral appendages, with finger-like branches, running along the length of the body. Each of these appendages has an attached cluster of

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s. Their rounded head has a

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

on either side of the mouth, with tiny finger-like papillae. The

rhinophore A rhinophore is one of a pair of Chemoreceptor, chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, Marine (ocean), marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks suc ...

s on the head resemble the dorsal appendages. Nudibranchs within this family are believed to feed exclusively on hydroids.

Genera

* '' Bornella'' Gray, 1850 (with at least ten species) *'' Pseudobornella'' Baba, 1932 (monotypic : ''P. orientalis'') Pola, Marta & Rudman, William & Gosliner, Terrence. (2009)
Systematics And Preliminary Phylogeny Of Bornellidae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Dendronotina) Based On Morphological Characters With Description Of Four New Species.
Zootaxa. 1-57. 10.5281/zenodo.185130.

References

Gastropod families {{Heterobranchia-stub