Pseudobiceros hancockanus (Collingwood, 1876)

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 : 365-366

Pseudobiceros hancockanus (Collingwood, 1876)

( Fig. 8 )

Proceros hancockanus Collingwood, 1876: 87 , 91. Pseudobiceros hancockanus Faubel 1984: 207 .

Stylochopsis malayensis Collingwood, 1876: 88 , 94. Prostheceraeus hancockanus Lang, 1884: 567 .

Pseudoceros malayensis Bock, 1913: 258 .

Pseudoceros hancockianus Laidlaw 1903: 301 , 302, 315.

Material examined. AM W.44684, MI QLD 2390, transversally sectioned; AM W.44683, MI QLD 2390, in 70% ethanol.

Description. Elongated body is 38 mm long and 9 mm wide. Dorsal colouration: black background, with two marginal bands (inner to outer), wide orange and white. Seminal vesicle is ovoid and large. Prostatic vesicle is ovoid, oriented forward. Ejaculatory duct is narrow, descends behind seminal vesicle until base of penis papilla. Prostatic duct is short. Stylet is conic, large, housed in a shallow atrium ( Fig. 8 A–C). Female genital complex ( Fig. 8 C) has the configuration characteristic for the genus and a small atrium.

Remarks. Pseudobiceros hancockanus shows similar colouration as Pseudobiceros gloriosus , but the latter presents a black rim at the margin, external to the white band.

Distribution. Previously found at Heron Island and One Tree Island ( Australia), Laccadives ( India), Japan, Singapore, and Philippines ( Newman & Cannon 1994b). First report from Lizard Island.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Pseudobiceros hancockanus (Collingwood, 1876), AM W. 44684, MI QLD 2390. A – B. Histological sections of the reproductive system; C. Sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system. Anterior to the left. Abbreviations: fa = female atrium, i = intestine, ma = male atrium, pv = prostatic vesicle, s = stylet, sv = seminal vesicle.