Hexabranchidae is a family of colourful nudibranchs (often called "sea slugs") which contains only a single genus, Hexabranchus, with six species.
This family is one of the many families of dorid nudibranchs in the suborder Doridina, named after Doris, who was a sea nymph in ancient Greek mythology.
The genus contains one of the largest known species of nudibranch in the world, H. giganteus, which grows up to or exceeding 50 cm in length.Tibiriçá, Y.; Pola, M.; Pittman, C.; Gosliner, T. M.; Malaquias, M. A.; Cervera, J. L. (2023). A Spanish dancer? No! A troupe of dancers: a review of the family Hexabranchidae Bergh, 1891 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia). Organisms Diversity & Evolution. Hexabranchus sanguineus is known to use chemical defenses derived from the sponge it eats and uses the chemical compounds to defend itself from potential fish predators.
Species There are six species within the genus Hexabranchus: Hexabranchus aureomarginatus Ostergaard, 1955 Hexabranchus giganteus Tibiriçá, Pola & Cervera, 2023 Hexabranchus lacer (Cuvier, 1804) Hexabranchus morsomus Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1962 Hexabranchus sandwichensis Gray, 1850 Hexabranchus sanguineus (Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828) - synonym: Hexabranchus praetextus Ehrenberg, 1828 - type speciesValdés Á. (2002). "How many species of Hexabranchus (Opisthobranchia : Dorididae) are there?". Molluscan Research 22(3): 289-301. , PDF.
References