''Melibe'' 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

slugs Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...

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, 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

Tethydidae Tethydidae is a family of dendronotid nudibranch gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Dendronotoidea.Picton, B.; Bouchet, P. (2017). Tethydidae Rafinesque, 1815. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at htt ...

. Most nudibranchs are carnivores, but their prey is usually sessile or slow-moving animals such as sponges or bryozoans. In contrast, ''Melibe'' is an active predator which traps fast-moving free-swimming animals such as small crustaceans, using its extendable oral hood

Melibe leonina

Species

Species within the genus ''Melibe'' include 17 valid species: ''

Species inquirenda In biological classification, a ''species inquirenda'' is a species of doubtful identity requiring further investigation. The use of the term in English-language biological literature dates back to at least the early nineteenth century. The ter ...

'': * '' Melibe capucina'' Bergh, 1875 * '' Melibe lonchocera'' (E. von Martens, 1879) * '' Melibe ocellata'' Bergh, 1888

References

External links

iNaturalist
{{Authority control Tethydidae Gastropod genera

Species

References

Further reading

External links