Dorididae

Sea lemon
	A live individual of Doris odhneri, head end towards the right
	Mating Doris montereyensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Superfamily:	Doridoidea
Family:	Dorididae; Rafinesque, 1815
Genera
	See text
Synonyms
	Glossodorididae Thiele, 1929 ;

Sea lemon is a loosely applied common name for a group of medium-sized to large shell-less colorful sea slugs or nudibranchs, specifically dorid nudibranchs in the taxonomic family Dorididae and other closely related families. These are marine gastropod mollusks.

The Monterey sea lemon is Doris montereyensis and the mottled pale sea lemon is Diaulula lentiginosa.

The common name sea lemon probably comes from these animal's visual similarity to a lemon based on such qualities as the roughened skin, the oval form when seen from above, and the common but not inevitable orange to pale yellow coloration.

Description

These dorid nudibranchs can be large (up to 20 cm), rather flattened, and oval in shape when seen from above. They have two hornlike projections (rhinophores) on the head, and a rosette-like tuft of gills on the back of the animal. The mantle is sometimes sprinkled with black dots, and it is covered in small bumps, which are called tubercles.

Life habits

Sea lemons feed on sponges. They lay ribbons of white or yellow eggs. Taxonomically the Dorididae is a family of several genera, the dorids named after the mythological ancient Greek sea nymph Doris. (See Ovidius, Metamorphoses 2.6)

Genera

Genera within the family Dorididae include:^[1]

Aphelodoris (Bergh, 1879)
Artachaea Bergh, 1881
Conualevia Collier & Farmer, 1964
Doriopsis Bergh, 1889
Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Goslineria Valdés, 2001
Homoiodoris Bergh, 1881: nomen dubium
Pharodoris Valdés, 2001

Genera brought into synonymy

Anisodoris Bergh, 1898 : synonym of Diaulula (Discodorididae)
Anoplodoris P. Fischer, 1883 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Aporodoris Ihering, 1886 [synonym of Taringa in family Discodorididae]
Archidoris Bergh, 1878 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Austrodoris Odhner, 1926 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Ctenodoris Eliot, 1907 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Doridigitata d'Orbigny, 1839: synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Doriopsis Bergh, 1889: synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Doriorbis Kay & Young, 1969 :synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Etidoris Ihering, 1886 a: synonym of Thordisa Bergh, 1877
Guyonia Risbec, 1928 :synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Neodoris Baba, 1938 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Praegliscita Burn, 1957 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Rhabdochila P. Fischer, 1883: synonym of Rostanga Bergh, 1879
Siraius Marcus, 1955 : synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758
Staurodoris Bergh, 1878: synonym of Doris Linnaeus, 1758

References

^ Bouchet, P. (2010). Dorididae Rafinesque, 1815. In: MolluscaBase (2016). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2016-12-04.

[1] Bouchet, P. (2010). Dorididae Rafinesque, 1815. In: MolluscaBase (2016). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2016-12-04.

[1]