''Halgerda'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
sea slug
Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...
s, dorid
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 ...
s, shell-less
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 ...
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
s in the family
Discodorididae
Discodorididae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of sea slugs, specifically dorid nudibranchs, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Doridoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Discodorididae. Accessed through: ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Halgerda'' was classified within the family Halgerdidae by Odhner (1934).
Halgerdidae Odhner, 1926, is treated as a synonym of Discodorididae in the
taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005).
See also Valdés (2002).
Seven species of ''Halgerda'' were described in the years 1880-1905, two species in 1932-1949, four species from 1975-1982, then 22 species in the years 1993-2001. In 2018 another six new species were described from Mozambique, highlighting the number of undescribed species on the African coast of the Indian Ocean.
[Tibiriçá, Y.; Pola, M.; Cervera, J. L. (2018). Systematics of the genus ''Halgerda'' Bergh, 1880 (Heterobranchia : Nudibranchia) of Mozambique with descriptions of six new species. Invertebrate Systematics.] A number of undescribed species are known and many species show considerable variation across their ranges, which may indicate that more cryptic species exist.
[Gosliner, T.M., Behrens,D.W. & Valdes,A., 2008. Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs. A field guide to the World's most diverse fauna. Sea Challengers Natural History Books & The California Academy of Sciences. ]
Distribution
Species of ''Halgerda'' are confined to the Indo-West Pacific Tropical region apart from two species which are found in warm temperate waters of South Africa and Southern Australia and one species from warm temperate Japanese waters.
Species
Species within the genus ''Halgerda'' include:
[MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase]
''Halgerda'' Bergh, 1880
Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2023-06-18.
Image:Halgerda batangas.jpg, '' Halgerda batangas''
Image:Halgerda brunneomaculata.jpg, '' Halgerda brunneomaculata''
Image:Halgerda carlsoni.jpg, '' Halgerda carlsoni''
Image:Halgerda formosa.jpg, '' Halgerda formosa''
Image:Halgerda guahan 2.jpg, '' Halgerda guahan''
Image:Halgerda indotesselata B12 4392a.jpg, '' Halgerda indotesselata''
Image:Halgerda malesso 2.jpg, '' Halgerda malesso''
Image:Halgerda-punctata.jpg, '' Halgerda punctata''
Image:Halgerda stricklandi 003.jpg, '' Halgerda stricklandi''
Image:Halgerda terramtuentis.jpg, '' Halgerda terramtuentis''
Image:Nudibranch - Halgerda tessellata.jpg, '' Halgerda tessellata''
Image:Halgerda wasinensis.jpg, '' Halgerda wasinensis''
Image:Halgerda willeyi 2.jpg, '' Halgerda willeyi''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1443205
Discodorididae