Establishing a phylogeny of the family Tergipedidae using morphological and molecular evidence

Due their small size and seemingly limited anatomical variation, the nudibranch family\ud Tergipedidae is difficult to study systematically. For decades, researchers have struggled\ud to define distinct genera and their classification remains controversial. While\ud morphological characters used to define tergipedid taxa remain the subject of debate, no\ud phylogeny has been attempted. In this study, I employ a phylogenetic approach for the\ud first time in studying Tergipedidae. Mitochondrial genes 16S and cytochrome c oxidase I\ud (COI) and the nuclear gene histone 3 (H3) were utilized to establish a preliminary\ud molecular phylogeny of Tergipedidae. Results indicate that previous classifications based\ud on morphological characters do not accurately depict phylogenetic relationships. Here, I\ud propose a new classification based on molecular evidence and unite the families\ud Tergipedidae, Eubranchidae, Calmidae and Fionidae under Fionidae