Numerous biologists (malacologists) and citizen scientists, including many scuba divers, study the marine mollusks known as opisthobranchs, which are a large and diverse group of shelled and (mostly) shell-less, saltwater gastropods, the common name for which is sea slugs (including nudibranchs, sacoglossans, etc) and bubble snails. Symposia and workshops on opisthobranchs are meetings where those who specialize in studying these animals meet in order to share ideas, information, and knowledge.
Meetings of an informal group of opisthobranch scientists have occurred in the past. Numerous examples are listed on the Sea Slug Forum website. [1]
A few are listed here:
Planned workshop
Other meet-ups listed on Sea Slug Forum: [6]
A concept which has been raised at these meetings is the idea of a calendar day on which to celebrate nudibranchs or sea slugs in general. In 2015, in Southern California, "Sea Slug Day" was October 29, "the birthday of Terry Gosliner from the San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences" [7] (Gosliner is an expert on nudibranchs). Alternatively, "International Nudibranch Day" was suggested in Australia. [8]
Rostanga is a genus of sea slugs in the family Discodorididae. Some sources, such as The Sea Slug Forum still classify Rostanga in the family Dorididae.
Opisthobranchs is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.
Goniobranchus collingwoodi, common name Collingwood's chromodoris, is a species of very colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Rostanga pulchra is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Discodorididae.
Phyllidia babai is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Phyllidiidae.
William B. Rudman, usually known as Bill Rudman, is a malacologist from New Zealand and Australia. In particular he studies sea slugs, opisthobranch gastropod molluscs, and has named many species of nudibranchs.
Mexichromis is a genus of colourful sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the family Chromodorididae. Current synonymy follows a revision of Chromodorididae which used molecular phylogeny.
Phyllidiopsis fissurata is a species of sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Phyllidiidae.
Halgerda onna is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the family Discodorididae.
Goniobranchus albopunctatus is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus albopustulosus is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus aurigerus is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Felimida baumanni is a species of colorful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus epicurius is a species of colourful sea slug called a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus tumuliferus is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus rubrocornutus is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus sinensis is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Hypselodoris nigrostriata is a species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.
Hypselodoris nigrolineata is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.
Acanthodoris rhodoceras is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.