Pseudoceros prudhoei Newman & Cannon, 1994

Marquina, Daniel, Aguado, M. Teresa & Noreña, Carolina, 2015, New records of Cotylea (Polycladida, Platyhelminthes) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with remarks on the distribution of the Pseudoceros Lang, 1884 and Pseudobiceros Faubel, 1984 species of the Indo-Pacific Marine Region, Zootaxa 4019 (1), pp. 354-377 : 360-361

Pseudoceros prudhoei Newman & Cannon, 1994

( Fig. 4 )

Pseudoceros prudhoei Newman & Cannon, 1994: 235 –236, figs 28A–C, 49C.

Material examined. AM W.45204, MI QLD 2448, sagittally sectioned.

Description. Elongated body is 15 mm long and 5 mm wide. Dorsal colour pattern is uniform orange-brown background with two marginal bands (inner to outer): one is bluish grey to whitish towards the margin, another is yellow, narrow. Male and female pores are well separated ( Fig. 4 A). Sucker is at the same distance from the female pore as the female pore from the male pore. Seminal vesicle is small, elongated and flattened, slightly curved ventrally in the middle. Prostatic vesicle is large and elongated. Ejaculatory duct descends up to base of penis papilla. Prostatic duct is wide and short. Stylet is broad and small, housed in a shallow male atrium ( Fig. 4 B, C). Female genital complex ( Fig. 4 C) is immature.

Remarks. Newman & Cannon (1994b) mentioned that the dorsal surface is covered with numerous small granules of dark brown colour, over the orange background, which confers it a darker appearance, almost black. In the examined specimen, those granules do not appear, and thus, the dorsal colouration is lighter. Such variation in the colour tone, while maintaining the basic pattern, has been already described by other authors ( Ang & Newman 1998; Litvaitis et al. 2010). Although in the original description the inner marginal band is described as sky blue or mauve, in the attached picture it can be seen that, as happens in our specimen, the band fades to white ( Newman & Cannon 1994b, 2003). A similar morphotype was reported by Apte & Pitale (2011) from India, while Dixit and Raghunathan (2013) reported from India a specimen of P. prudhoei that matched the original description. This could be another case of colour variation.

Distribution. Previously found at Heron Island and Lizard Island, Australia ( Newman & Cannon 1994b, 1998), Mandang, Papua New Guinea ( Newman & Cannon 1994b, 1998), Shimoni, Kenya ( Newman & Cannon 1998), Persian Gulf, Iran ( Maghsoudlou & Rahimian 2014), and India ( Apte & Pitale 2011; Dixit & Raghunathan 2013).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Pseudoceros prudhoei Newman & Cannon, 1994, AM W. 45204, MI QLD 2448. A. Live specimen; B. Histological sections of the reproductive system; C. Sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system, anterior to the left in B, C. Abbreviations: fp = female pore, i = intestine, ma = male atrium, p = pharynx, pv = prostatic vesicle, s = stylet, su = sucker, sv = seminal vesicle.