''Clunio'' is a genus of non-biting midges in the subfamily
Orthocladiinae of the bloodworm family (
Chironomidae
Chironomidae , commonly known as non-biting midges or chironomids , are a family of Nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the families Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Although many chironomid ...
). All species in the genus are marine. They are found in the
intertidal zone
The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...
of many coasts worldwide. The species ''
Clunio marinus'' is a long-standing model system in
chronobiology
Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines timing processes, including periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms, such as their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms. These cycles are known as biological rhythms. Chron ...
and its genome has been sequenced. ''Clunio'' species can be dispersed widely by hitch-hiking on sea-turtles, feeding on algae growing on their carapace.
Species
*''
C. adriaticus''
Schiner 1856[
]
*''
C. africanus''
Hesse 1937
*''
C. aquilonius''
Tokinaga 1938
*''
C. balticus''
Heimbach 1978
*''
C. brasiliensis''
Oliviera 1950
*''
C. brevis''
Stone and Wirth 1947
*''
C. californiensis''
Hashimoto 1974
*''
C. fuscipennis''
Wirth 1952
*''
C. littoralis''
Stone and Wirth 1947
*''
C. marinus''
Haliday 1855
*''
C. marshalli''
Stone and Wirth 1947
*''
C. mediterraneus''
Neumann 1966
*''
C. pacificus''
Edwards 1926
*''
C. ponticus''
Michailova 1980
*''
C. purpureus''
Hashimoto 1962
*''
C. schmitti''
Stone and Wirth 1947
*''
C. setoensis''
Tokunaga 1933
*''
C. takahashii''
Tokunaga 1938
*''
C. tsushimensis''
Tokunaga 1933
*''
C. tuthilli''
Tokunaga 1964
*''
C. vagans''
Stone & Wirth 1947
References
Chironomidae
Nematocera genera
Taxa named by Alexander Henry Haliday
Marine insects
{{Chironomidae-stub