Tectibranchia

Tectibranchia Cuvier, 1814, also spelled as Tectibranchiata,^[1] was previously used as a taxonomic order, or suborder, of gastropods in which the gills are usually situated on one side of the back, and protected by a fold of the mantle.^[2] When there is a shell, it is usually thin and delicate and often rudimentary.^[2]

Tectibranchia has been firstly used as an order with vernacular name "Tectibranches" by Georges Cuvier in 1814 to include "les Pleurobranches", "les Pleurobranchaea" and "les Aplisiés ...".^[3][4] That covered bubble shells^[2] and the modern families Pleurobranchidae and Aplysiidae.

Thomas Edward Bowdich (1822)^[5] Latinized the term as Tectibranchi.^[4]

See also

• Pomatobranchiata Schweigger, 1820 - similar taxon name for an approximately similar group of gastropods, but this term is also not used in recent classification.^[4]
• Architectibranchia Haszprunar, 1985 - taxon with similar name