Catriona gymnota is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trinchesiidae.Gofas, S. (2015). Cuthona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=153380 on 2016-02-28Korshunova 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,
Distribution This species was described from Massachusetts Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the US. It is reported from the NW Atlantic from Canada to New Jersey.Rudman, W.B., 2000 (September 17). Cuthona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. DNA evidence suggests that the NE Atlantic specimens previously thought to be this species actually belong to a separate species and should therefore be called Catriona aurantia.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.
Description This species has a translucent white body and slightly swollen cerata. The digestive gland is orange pink in colour and the tips of the cerata have a broad white band of tiny epidermal glands. In larger specimens the rhinophores develop a pale orange suffusion. The foot is broad and rounded anteriorly. Large individuals may exceed 20 mm in length.
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