Taken primarily from Kozloff,
1987, 1996
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| Lower taxonomic level | Main Page | Alphabetic Index | Systematic Index | Glossary |
| 1a | Body stout, more massive than most slugs; dorsal outgrowths represented by numerous small gill tufts concentrated along a definite dorsolateral margin on both sides of the body | 2 |
| 1b | Body sluglike; dorsal outgrowths represented by cerata that are either bushy, club-shaped (with rings of tubercles), or paddlelike, these cerata being arranged in a longitudinal row on both sides of the body (but there are no definite dorsolateral margins) | 5 |
| 2a | With white gill tifts that form unbroken rows extending from the rhinophores to the tail region; anterior border of the oral veil white, crenulate, but without papillae; dorsum apricot-orange, with patches of white pigment, the sides lighter. | Tochuina tetraquetra |
| 2b | Gill tufts of each row separated by obvious spaces; anterior border of the oral veil with simple papillae; body color mostly pale pink to deep salmon or rose | 3 |
| 3a | Dorsum pale pink, usually with an intricate pattern of white lines; edge of rhinophore sheath smooth; oral veil with about 10 long, slender papillae | Tritonia festiva |
| 3b | Dorsum salmon or rose, without a pattern of white lines, the sides lighter; edge of rhinophore sheath crenulate; oral veil with 10-30 short papillae | 4 |
| 4a | (Although external characters are helpful in separating the next two species, dissection may be necessary to confirm the identification): Body about as wide as high; length up to 8 cm; oral veil with up to 25 (usually 10-16) papillae; dissection reveals a white oral canal, a short stout penis, and denticles on the masticatory border | Tritonia exsulans |
| 4b | Body decidedly wider than high; length up to 12 cm; oral veil usually with 18 papillae; dissection reveals a reddish brown or orange oral tube, an elongate, clubbed penis, and absence of denticles on the masticatory border | Tritonia diomedea |
| 5a | With large oral hood that has numerous filiform tentacles around its margin; usually with 4-6 pairs of paddle-shaped cerata; oral hood with small, earlike rhinophores. Body translucent yellowish gray, with opaque brown hepatic diverticula | Melibe leonina |
| 5b | Without an oral hood, although an oral veil may be present; cerata bushy or club-shaped; rhinophores large and prominent | 6 |
| 6a | Cerata club-shaped, with 3-6 whorls of rounded tubercles; clavus of rhinophores smooth; rhinophore sheath may be crenulate, but not drawn out into prominent papillae that give it a crownlike appearance | 7 |
| 6b | Cerata bushy; clavus of rhinophores perfoliate (with encircling flanges), rhinophore sheath drawn out into 4-10 simple or branched papillae that give it a crownlike appearance | 9 |
| 7a | ||
| 7b | ||
| 8a | ||
| 8b | ||
| 9a | Oral veil large, wide, overhanging the mouth region, and usually with 3 pairs of long, branched papillae on its anterolateral third; with a white line around the edge of the foot, or yellowish white spots liberally scattered over the whole body, including the cerata, rhinophores, and veil papillae (background color pale red-brown, with darker reddish-brown patches) | Dendronotus albopunctatus |
| 9b | Oral veil not large and wide, and only slightly overhanging the mouth region, and usually with more than 3 pairs of papillae on its anterior third (if only 3 pairs of papillae are present on the veil, these are seldom long and branched); usually without a white line around the edge of the foot, but if such a line is present, there are few or no white spots scattered over the body. | 10 |
| 10a | With a vertical row of 3-6 small, bushy outgrowths on the posterior border of the rhinophore stalk; with an opaque white line around the edge of the foot (body color gray or gray-brown to deep orange-red; with 4-7 pairs of tall, bushy cerata tipped with dark purple, orange, yellow, or white, or some combination of these colors; length up to 30 cm but usually 6-18 cm) | Dendronotus iris |
| 10b | Without outgrowths on the posterior border of the rhinophore stalk; without an opaque white line around the foot | 11 |
| 11a | Without lateral papillae on the rhinophore stalks; cerata tall and stout, branching in a rosette pattern about halfway up; body usually pale to dark reddish brown, mottled, and with 4 parallel reddish brown longitudinal lines on the dorsum, 2 on each side, joining the bases of the rhinophores and each successive pair of cerata (occasionally the body is white, yellow, or orange, but at least portions of the 4 reddish brown lines will be evident). Length up to 5 cm | Dendronotus subramosus |
| 11b | Usually with lateral papillae on the rhinophore stalks (these papillae may, however, be reduced or absent in Dendronotus albus and D. diversicolor); cerata branched in a fanlike pattern, with the fan oriented at a right angle with respect to the surface of the body; dorsum without 4 reddish brown longitudinal lines | 12 |
| 12a | Length usually more than 4 cm and sometimes up to 30 cm; with 4-8 pairs of very bushy cerata; with 4 or 5 pairs of large, extensively branched papillae on the oral veil; with 20 or more simple or branched lip papillae | 13 |
| 12b | Length usually 1 to 4 cm but sometimes up to 6 cm; with 4-8 pairs of sparsely branched cerata; with 3 or 4 pairs of papillae on the oral veil; with up to 8 simple lip papillae | 14 |
| 13a | ||
| 13b | ||
| 14a | Body white or lilac, with white and/or orange on the tips of the cerata; with a dorsomedial white line extending from the tip of the tail to at least the posteriormost pair of cerata | 15 |
| 14b | Body pale brown to dark reddish brown, sometimes whitish; without a dorsomedial white line between the tip of the tail and the posteriormost pair of cerata. Length up to 5 cm, usually 1.5 to 3 cm; with 5-7 pairs of moderately branched cerata; 4 pairs of simply branched papillae on the oral veil; up to 6 simple lip papillae; body delicate and sluglike. Note: The following color morphs prevail: 1) body pale brown, with yellow caps on the tubercles and with small yellow or white flecks on the outgrowths of the dorsum. 2) body whitish with a few small pinkish brown spots on the dorsum. 3) body dark reddish brown, often with large patches of white pigment between the cerata and/or on the sides, ventral to the cerata, and with white or yellow spots on the dorsum and its outgrowths | Dendronotus frondosus |
| 15a | With 5-8 pairs of moderately branched cerata; often with a few nearly conical papillae on the dorsum; body translucent white with opaque white pigment on the distal portions of the cerata, rhinophore stalk and crown papilla, veil papillae, and lateral papillae; with a dorsomedial white line extending from the tip of the tail to the level of the 4th to 2nd pairs of cerata (in some individuals the core of the cerata shows a gradation, proximally to distally, from tan to golden yellow to copper to white). Length up to 4.5 cm, usually 1-3 cm | Dendronotus albus |
| 15b | Usually with 4 pairs (rarely 5) of tall, slender, sparsely branched cerata; dorsum without papillae; body translucent white or lilac, with intergrades occasionally seen; with opaque white and/or metallic orange pigment on the distal portions of the cerata and on the rhinophores and veil papillae; with a dorsomedial white line extending from the tip of the tail to the posteriormost pair of cerata; length up to 7 cm, usually 3-6 cm | Dendronotus diversicolor |