Trinchesia

Trinchesia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Aeolidacea
Family: Trinchesiidae
Genus: Trinchesia
H. von Ihering, 1879[1]
Type species
Trinchesia caerulea (Montagu, 1804)
Synonyms[2]
  • Narraeolida Burn, 1961
  • Toorna Burn, 1964

Trinchesia is a genus of sea slugs, aeolid nudibranchs, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Trinchesiidae.[3][2] All species were transferred to Tenellia as a result of a DNA phylogeny study in 2016.[4] The genus was dismembered and broken into several smaller genera in 2017 with further DNA evidence and a re-interpretation of genus and family characteristics.[5]

In yet another study, Korshunova et al., 2025 conducted a mass reassessment of Aeolidacea taxa and proposed to reverse previous motions that "lumped" taxa together indiscriminately.[6] While The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) has cited Korshunova et al., 2025 across other taxonomic adjustments, in regards to Trinchesiidae, who is possibly the most controversed Aeolidean family with papers being published nearly every year from opposing camps, there has yet to be adjustments.[2] As always, Wikipedia defers to the standards set in place by WoRMS, and the lists below will not update unless WoRMS does.

Trinchesia species feed on hydroids.

Species

Species currently included in the genus Trinchesia:[2][7]

  • Trinchesia caerulea (Montagu, 1804) - type species of Trinchesia
  • Trinchesia cuanensis (Korshunova, Picton, Furfaro, Mariottini, Pontes, Prkić, Fletcher, Malmberg, Lundin & Martynov, 2019)
  • Trinchesia diljuvia (Korshunova, Picton, Furfaro, Mariottini, Pontes, Prkić, Fletcher, Malmberg, Lundin & Martynov, 2019)
  • Trinchesia morrowae (Korshunova, Picton, Furfaro, Mariottini, Pontes, Prkić, Fletcher, Malmberg, Lundin & Martynov, 2019)

Species formerly in the genus Trinchesia:[2]



References

  1. ^ Ihering H. von. (1879). Einiges neue uber Mollusken. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 2: 136-138
  2. ^ a b c d e MolluscaBase eds. (2026). MolluscaBase. Tenellia A. Costa, 1866. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138545 on 2026-03-04
  3. ^ Brown, G.H. (1980). "The British species of the aeolidiacean family Tergipedidae (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) with a discussion of the genera." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 69: 225-255. - note: Supports treatment of Trinchesia as a synonym of Cuthona until definitive characters are established
  4. ^ Cella, K; Carmona Barnosi, L.; Ekimova, I; Chichvarkhin, A; Schepetov, D; Gosliner, T. M. (2016). "A radical solution: The phylogeny of the nudibranch family Fionidae." PLoS ONE. 11(12): e0167800.
  5. ^ Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A.; Picton, B. (2017). Ontogeny as an important part of integrative taxonomy in tergipedid aeolidaceans (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) with a description of a new genus and species from the Barents Sea. Zootaxa. 4324(1): 1.
  6. ^ Korshunova T.; Fletcher K.; Martynov A. (2025). The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 204, Issue 4, August 2025, zlaf057,
  7. ^ Korshunova, T., Picton, B., Furfaro, G. et al. Multilevel fine-scale diversity challenges the ‘cryptic species’ concept. Sci Rep 9, 6732 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42297-5 on 2026-03-02