Cerebratulus

Mendes, Cecili B., Matthews-Cascon, Helena & Norenburg, Jon L., 2016, New records of ribbon worms (Nemertea) from Ceará, Northeast Brazil, Zootaxa 4061 (2), pp. 146-156 : 152-153

Cerebratulus sp. 2

( Figure 2 [6a–6b])

Material examined. One specimen (115 mm), MZUSP 0 0 0 18, Brazil, Ceará, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, 3°23.95' S 39°0.85' W, under rock, on sand, coll. Cecili Mendes, 31.I.2014.

One specimen (75 mm), MZUSP 0 0 0 19, Brazil, Ceará, Trairí, Praia do Guajiru, 3º14.21’S 39º13.44’W, under rock, on sand, coll. Cecili Mendes, 02.III.2014.

One specimen (123 mm), MZUSP 0 0 0 20, Brazil, Ceará, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, 3°23.95' S 39°0.85' W, under rock, on sand, coll. Cecili Mendes, 30.III.2014.

One specimen (114 mm), MZUSP 0 0 0 21, Brazil, Ceará, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, 3°23.95' S 39°0.85' W, under rock, on sand, coll. Cecili Mendes, 27.VII.2014.

One specimen (100 mm), MZUSP 0 0 0 22, Brazil, Ceará, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, 3°23.95' S 39°0.85' W, under rock, on sand, coll. Cecili Mendes, 07.IX.2014.

Field diagnosis. Body dark brown, long and flat, ending in a white tip and a long caudal cirrus. Head triangular, black with red cerebral ganglia visible. No eye spots. Deep, long cephalic slits. Small mouth immediately posterior to cephalic slits. No marks on body. Intestinal region paler than anterior; diverticula visible; ventral side pale brown, very transparent. Proboscis beige, long and thin. Very contractile animals; posterior end usually curls during fixation process.

Ecology. Specimens found in medium sand, under rocks in mid- and lower littoral zone. They appear to be solitary.

Remarks. This species could be confused with Dushia atra sensu Corrêa (1963) ; the latter is blackish, the snout has a white anterior margin and is not pointy, the brain is not visible, the mouth is a large fissure, the posterior can have a short white region, the caudal cirrus is short and obvious only in small (<approximately 200 mm extended length) specimens (JLN, unpublished obs.).

Figures

FIGURE 2. (1) Tubulanus rhabdotus Corrêa, 1955, lateral view; (2) Carinomella cf. lactea Coe, 1905: (a) head, dorsal view; (b) posterior end, lateral view; (3) Baseodiscus delineatus (Delle-Chiaje, 1825): dorsal view; (4) Cerebratulus cf. lineolatus Coe, 1905, dorsal view; (5) Cerebratulus sp. 1: (a) dorsal view; (b) posterior end, dorsal view; (6) Cerebratulus sp. 2: (a) whole body, dorsal view; (b) head, ventral view; (7) Lineid sp. 1: (a) head, dorsal view; (b) posterior end, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1, 2 a, 2 b, 6 b and 7 a, 1 mm; 3, 5 a, 5 b and 6 a, 5 mm; 4 and 7 b, 10 mm.