''Tochuina'' 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, tritonid

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

Tritoniidae Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranchia, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs.MolluscaBase (2018)Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809.Accessed on 2021-01-01 This family includes some of the largest known nudibranch ...

.MolluscaBase (2018)
''Tochuina'' Odhner, 1963.
Accessed on 2021-01-06.

Taxonomy

The

species composition Relative species abundance is a component of biodiversity and is a measure of how common or rare a species is relative to other species in a defined location or community.Hubbell, S. P. 2001. ''The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeog ...

of ''Tochuina'' was clarified in 2020 as a result of an integrative taxonomic study of the family Tritoniidae.Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A. (2020)
Consolidated data on the phylogeny and evolution of the family Tritoniidae (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) contribute to genera reassessment and clarify the taxonomic status of the neuroscience models ''Tritonia'' and ''Tochuina''.
PLOS ONE. 15(11): e0242103. ''Tochuina'' differs from ''Tritonia'' in having a non-bilobed oral veil and the clade is supported by DNA phylogeny. An interesting finding was that the tritoniid genus ''Tochuina'' not only shows an intriguing morphological similarity to ''

Doridoxa Doridoxidae, commonly known as doridoxid nudibranchs, are a small, enigmatic taxonomic family of shell-less sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Cladobranchia within the clade Nudibranchia. Doridoxidae is currently the only fami ...

'' and ''

Heterodoris ''Heterodoris'' is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Heterodorididae. The species of this genus are found in Europe, Northern America and Australia. Species: *''Heterodoris antipodes'' *''Heterodoris robusta ''Heterodoris'' is ...

'' but clusters close to these genera, which themselves cluster with the family

Arminidae Arminidae is a family (biology), family of sea slugs, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Arminoidea. Taxonomy The family Arminidae is classified within the clade Cladobranchia, itself belonging to the clade Nudibranch ...

, in a molecular tree within the

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 ...

Species

Species within the genus ''Tochuina'' include: * ''

Tochuina gigantea ''Tochuina gigantea'', common name the giant orange tochui, is a species of sea slug, a tritonid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Tritoniidae Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranch ...

'' (Bergh, 1904) * '' Tochuina nigritigris'' (Valdés, Lundsten & Wilson, 2018) * '' Tochuina nigromaculata'' (Roginskaya, 1984) Species placed in synonymy: * ''Tochuina tetraquetra'' (Pallas, 1788) accepted as ''

Tritonia tetraquetra ''Tochuina gigantea'', common name the giant orange tochui, is a species of sea slug, a tritonid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Tritoniidae Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranch ...

'' (Pallas, 1788)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7812016 Tritoniidae