RT journal article
T1 A Spanish dancer? No! A troupe of dancers: a review of the family Hexabranchidae Bergh, 1891 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia): A troupe of Spanish dancer
A1 Junqueira de Azevedo Tibirica, Yara
A1 Pola Perez, Marta
A1 Pittman, Cory
A1 Gosliner, Terrence M.
A1 Malaquias, Manuel Antonio E.
A1 Cervera Currado, Juan Lucas
A2 Biología
K1 Hexabranchus
K1 Integrative taxonomy
K1 Nudibranchs
K1 Ontogeny
K1 Phylogeny
K1 Species delimitation
AB Color ontogeny and variations associated with discrete morphological differences may generate taxonomical challenges, which requires multiple data types and in-depth historical review. The nudibranch known as the Spanish dancer, Hexabranchus sanguineus, is a classic example with over 200 years of taxonomic confusion. Currently, H. sanguineus is accepted by most authors as a single species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean with Hexabranchus morsomus as a valid species from the Atlantic Ocean. Yet, despite these species being highly studied, their systematic status remains debatable. Over 30 synonyms have been proposed for H. sanguineus and even a distinct genus for H. morsomus. Here we provide, for the first time, a comprehensive review of all proposed names and an integrative taxonomic revision of the genus including morphological and molecular data. Our results reveal that H. sanguineus is a complex of five species: four previously described and an undescribed species, one of the largest nudibranchs in the world: Hexabranchus giganteus sp. nov. The genus Caribranchus is considered a junior synonym of Hexabranchus Ehrenberg, 1828 and the ontogeny of color pattern is discussed.
PB Springer
SN 1439-6092
YR 2023
FD 2023-06-20
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/28972
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/28972
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 21-sep-2026