Family: Discodorididae

Disodorid sea slugs are gastropod molluscs belonging to the order Nudibranchia. These belong to family Discodorididae with diversity of around 250 species worldwide. Being nudibranch, these molluscs have lost shell and no remnants are found in contrast to other shelled associates. So identification is based on the external and internal morphology. Majority of the records are from east coast of India and the records from west coast are scanty.
A total of 33 species have been recorded from India till now. The morphological characters were used for taxonomy of discodorids. This study is an attempt to present diversity of discodorid sea slugs recorded during 2011-2014 along the intertidal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Surveys were conducted fortnightly along the few sites of Gujarat like Dwarka, Poshitra, Narara and of Maharashtra like Bhatkarwada and Mirya. A total of 10 genera and 14 species of the discodorids were recorded, in which Sclerodoris apiculata was first time recorded from Gujarat; a species Atagema tristis was rediscovered after its last report in 1952 and two species namely Rostanga cf. arbutus and Thordisa sanguinea are new records for India.