Genus of gastropods
Cuthona is a genus of nudibranch in the family Cuthonidae .[ 1]
Ecology
Cuthona species feed on hydroids, and have uniseriate radulae with polydentate radular teeth .[ 2]
Taxonomic history
The type species of Cuthona is Cuthona nana , (Alder & Hancock, 1842). Some authorities consider the genera Catriona and Trinchesia to be synonymous with Cuthona . Most Cuthona species were transferred to other genera as a result of DNA phylogeny studies in 2016 and 2017.[ 3] [ 4]
Since then, Cuthona continues to be caught in the crossfire of a controversy that affects most heavily the family Trinchesiidae and any taxa that have been closely associated with it in the past, of which Cuthona is. Two teams of academics with radically different views on taxonomic method and integrity continue to publish papers near simultaneously with each other, that insist drastic taxonomic adjustments in opposite directions. The most recent publication belongs to Korshunova et al, 2025.[ 5]
While The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) has cited Korshunova et al., 2025 across other taxonomic adjustments, in regards to Trinchesiidae and Cuthonidae there has yet to be adjustments.[ 1]
Species
According to Korshunova et al. (2025), species in the genus Cuthona include:[ 5]
Other known species of Cuthona that Korshunova et al. (2025) did not provide alternate placement for are as follows[ 1] :
Cuthona antarctica (Pfeffer, 1886) - Not to be confused with Galvinella antarctica Eliot, 1907
Cuthona claviformis (Vicente, 1974)
Cuthona crinita (Minichev, 1972)
Cuthona destinyae (Hermosillo & Valdés, 2007)
Cuthona fructuosa (Bergh, 1892)
Cuthona georgiana (Pfeffer in Martens & Pfeffer, 1886)
Cuthona germaini Risbec, 1937 - nomen dubium
Cuthona mimetica Pruvot-Fol, 1930 - nomen dubium
Cuthona giarannae (Valdés, Moran & Woods, 2012)
Cuthona lizae Angulo-Campillo & Valdés, 2003
Cuthona methana (Valdés, Lundsten & N. G. Wilson, 2018)
Cuthona norvegica (Odhner, 1929)
Cuthona paucicirra Minichev, 1972
Cuthona phoenix Gosliner, 1981
Cuthona rolleri Gosliner & Behrens, 1988
Species brought into synonymy[ 5] [ 1] :
Cuthona abronia (MacFarland, 1966) : synonym of Abronica abronia
Cuthona abyssicola (Bergh, 1884) : synonym of Cuthonella abyssicola
Cuthona acinosa (Risbec, 1928) : synonym of Trinchesia acinosa - Uncertain taxon
Cuthona akibai (Baba, 1984) : synonym of Trinchesia akibai
Cuthona albocrusta (MacFarland, 1966) : synonym of Trinchesia albocrusta
Cuthona albopunctata (Schmekel, 1968) : synonym of Trinchesia albopunctata
Cuthona alpha (Baba & Hamatani, 1963) : synonym of Catriona alpha
Cuthona amoena (Alder & Hancock, 1845) : synonym of Rubramoena amoena
Cuthona anulata (Baba, 1949) : synonym of Trinchesia anulata
Cuthona aurantia (Alder & Hancock, 1842) :synonym of Catriona aurantia
Cuthona berghi (Friele, 1902) : synonym of Cuthonella abyssicola
Cuthona barbadiana (Edmunds & Just, 1983) : synonym of Trinchesia barbadiana
Cuthona behrensi (Hermosillo & Á. Valdés, 2007) : synonym of Hanatazuia behrensi
Cuthona beta (Baba & Abe, 1964) : synonym of Trinchesia beta
Cuthona bractea (Burn, 1962) : synonym of Tularia bractea
Cuthona caerulea (Montagu, 1804) : synonym of Trinchesia caerulea
Cuthona cocoachroma Williams & Gosliner, 1979 : synonym of Margina cocoachroma
Cuthona columbiana (O'Donoghue, 1922) : synonym of Catriona columbiana
Cuthona concinna (Alder & Hancock, 1843) : synonym of Fiocuthona concinna
Cuthona correai (Ortea, Caballer & Moro, 2002) : synonym of Trinchesia correai
Cuthona diminutiva (Gosliner, 1980) : synonym of Trinchesia diminutiva
Cuthona distans Odhner, 1922 : synonym of Fiocuthona concinna (Alder & Hancock, 1843)
Cuthona diversicolor Baba, 1975 : synonym of Trinchesia diversicolor
Cuthona elenae (Martynov, 2000) : synonym of Penistella elenae
Cuthona elioti Odhner, 1944 : synonym of Galvinella antarctica Eliot, 1907
Cuthona emurai (Baba, 1937) : synonym of Hermissenda emurai
Cuthona ferruginea (Friele, 1902) : synonym of Cuthonella abyssicola (Bergh 1884)
Cuthona fidenciae (Ortea, Moro & Espinosa, 1999) :synonym of Trinchesia fidenciae
Cuthona flavovulta (MacFarland, 1966) : synonym of Diaphoreolis flavovulta
Cuthona foliata (Forbes & Goodsir, 1839) : synonym of Trinchesia foliata
Cuthona fulgens (MacFarland, 1966) : synonym of Zelentia fulgens
Cuthona futairo (Baba, 1963) : synonym of Trinchesia futairo
Cuthona genovae (O'Donoghue, 1929) : synonym of Trinchesia genovae
Cuthona granosa (Schmekel, 1966) : synonym of Trinchesia granosa
Cuthona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838) : synonym of Catriona gymnota
Cuthona hamanni (Behrens, 1987) : synonym of Trinchesia hamanni
Cuthona henrici Eliot, 1916 : synonym of Trinchesia henrici
Cuthona herrerai Ortea, Moro & Caballer, 2002 : synonym of Trinchesia herrerai
Cuthona hiemalis Roginskaya, 1987 : synonym of Nella hiemalis
Cuthona ilonae (Schmekel, 1968) : synonym of Trinchesia ilonae
Cuthona iris Edmunds & Just, 1983 : synonym of Trinchesia iris
Cuthona japonica Baba, 1937 : synonym of Sakuraeolis japonica (Baba, 1937)
Cuthona kanga (Edmunds, 1970) : synonym of Trinchesia kanga
Cuthona kuiteri Rudman, 1981 : synonym of Trinchesia kuiterorum
Cuthona lagunae (O'Donoghue, 1926) : synonym of Diaphoreolis lagunae
Cuthona leopardina (Vayssière, 1888) : synonym of Trinchesia leopardina
Cuthona longi Behrens, 1985 : synonym of Trinchesia longi
Cuthona macquariensis (Burn, 1973) : synonym of Trinchesia macquariensis
Cuthona marisalbi Roginskaya, 1963 : synonym of Fiocuthona concinna
Cuthona millenae Hermosillo & Valdés, 2007 : synonym of Trinchesia millenae
Cuthona mimar (Ortea & Moro, 2018) : synonym of Trinchesia mimar
Cuthona miniostriata (Schmekel, 1968) : synonym of Trinchesia miniostriata
Cuthona modesta (Eliot, 1907) : synonym of Cuthonella modesta
Cuthona netsica (Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus, 1960) : synonym of Njurja netsica
Cuthona ocellata (Schmekel, 1966) : synonym of Trinchesia ocellata
Cuthona odhneri Er. Marcus, 1959 : synonym of Trinchesia odhneri
Cuthona ornata Baba, 1937 : synonym of Trinchesia ornata
Cuthona osyoro (Baba, 1940) : synonym of Nella osyoro
Cuthona pallida (Eliot, 1906) : synonym of Trinchesia pallida - Not to be confused with Tenellia pallida (Alder & Hancock, 1845)
Cuthona perca (Er. Marcus, 1958) : synonym of Trinchesia perca
Cuthona peregrina (Gmelin, 1791) : synonym of Cratena peregrina
Cuthona pinnifera (Baba, 1949) : synonym of Trinchesia pinnifera
Cuthona poritophages Rudman, 1979 : synonym of Phestilla poritophages
Cuthona puellula (Baba, 1955) synonym of Trinchesia puellula
Cuthona pumilio (Bergh, 1871) synonym of Trinchesia pumilio
Cuthona punicea Millen, 1986 : synonym of Cuthonella punicea
Cuthona purpureoanulata (Baba, 1961) : synonym of Abronica purpureoanulata
Cuthona pusilla (Bergh, 1898) synonym of Trinchesia pusilla
Cuthona pustulata (Alder & Hancock, 1854) : synonym of Zelentia pustulata
Cuthona reflexa (M. C. Miller, 1977) : synonym of Trinchesia reflexa
Cuthona riosi Hermosillo & Valdés, 2008 synonym of Trinchesia riosi
Cuthona rubescens Picton & Brown, 1978 : synonym of Rubramoena rubescens
Cuthona rubra (Edmunds, 1964) : synonym of Selva rubra
Cuthona schraderi Pfeffer, 1886 : synonym of Guyvalvoria paradoxa Eliot, 1907
Cuthona scintillans (Miller, 1977) : synonym of Diaphoreolis scintillans
Cuthona sibogae (Bergh, 1905) : synonym of Trinchesia sibogae (Bergh, 1905) - Not to be confused with Phestilla sibogae (Bergh, 1905)
Cuthona speciosa (Macnae, 1954) : synonym of Trinchesia speciosa
Cuthona stimpsoni A. E. Verrill, 1879 : synonym of Ziminella salmonacea (Couthouy, 1838)
Cuthona suecica (Odhner, 1940) : synonym of Xenocratena suecica
Cuthona thelmae (Burn, 1964) : synonym of Toorna thelmae
Cuthona thompsoni Garcia, Lopez-Gonzalez & Garcia-Gomez, 1991 : synonym of Trinchesia thompsoni
Cuthona tina (Er. Marcus, 1957) : synonym of Trinchesia tina
Cuthona valentini (Eliot, 1907) : synonym of Trinchesia valentini
Cuthona veronicae (A. E. Verrill, 1880) : synonym of Diaphoreolis veronicae
Cuthona virens (MacFarland, 1966) : synonym of Trinchesia virens
Cuthona viridis (Forbes, 1840) : synonym of Diaphoreolis viridis
Cuthona willani Cervera, Garcia-Gomez & Lopez-Gonzalez, 1992 :synonym of Trinchesia willani
Cuthona yamasui Hamatani, 1993 : synonym of Trinchesia yamasui
Cuthona zelandica Odhner, 1924 : synonym of Trinchesia zelandica
References
^ a b c d Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2018). Cuthona Alder & Hancock, 1855. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138543 on 2026-03-05
^ Gosliner, Terrence (1981). "A New Species of Tergipedid Nudibranch from the Coast of California" . Journal of Molluscan Studies . 47 (2): 200– 205. {{cite journal }}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link )
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ a b c 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,
Vaught, K.C. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca . American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). ISBN 0-915826-22-4 . XII, 195 pp
External links
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