Pseudobiceros uniarborensis 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 : 367

Pseudobiceros uniarborensis Newman & Cannon, 1994

( Fig. 10 )

Pseudobiceros uniarborensis Newman & Cannon, 1994: 252 –254, figs 42a–d, 51f.

Material examined. AM W.45437, MI QLD 2445, sagitally sectioned.

Description. Elongated body is 20 mm long and 6 mm wide. Dorsal colour pattern is black background, with three narrow marginal bands: (to outer), inner orange, pale or transparent grey in the middle and a white outer rim. Female pore close to the male pores ( Fig. 10 A). Sucker is at the middle of the body. V as deferens is with very dilated spermiducal vesicles ( Fig. 10 C). Seminal vesicle is pyriform, large, heavily muscularized and anterioposteriorly oriented. Prostatic vesicle is round, large. Ejaculatory duct is long and narrow, runs backwards. Prostatic duct is long and narrow. Penis papilla is armed with a long stylet housed in a shallow atrium ( Fig. 10 B, E). The female system ( Fig. 10 D, E) shows the characteristic configuration of the genus.

Remarks. Pseudobiceros uniarborensis belongs, along with P. hymanae , P. gloriosus , P. hancockanus , and P. periculosus , to a group of species with very similar colour pattern, can be distinguished based on morphological characters. P. uniarborensis presents ear-like pointed pseudotentacles, while the rest of the species show square pseudotentacles. Moreover, the transparent grey marginal band with the white rim is exclusive for P. uniarborensis . Furthermore, the junction of the prostatic and ejaculatory ducts at the base of the penis papilla distinguishes P. hymanae from P. uniarborensis .

Distribution. Previously found at Heron Island, One Tree Island, Lizard Island, Ningaloo Reef and Coral Bay, Australia ( Newman & Cannon 1994b, 1997), Mandang, Papua New Guinea ( Newman & Cannon 1994b, 1997), Oman Gulf, Iran ( Maghsoudlou & Rahimian 2014) and Kavaratti Island, India ( Apte & Pitale 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 10. Pseudobiceros uniarborensis Newman & Cannon, 1994, AM W. 45437, MI QLD 2445. A. Live specimen; B – D. Histological sections of the reproductive system; E. Sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system. Anterior to the left in B – E. Abbreviations: cg = cement glands, fa = female atrium, fp = female pore, i = intestine, ma = male atrium, p = pharynx, pv = prostatic vesicle, s = stylet, spv = spermiducal vesicles, sv = seminal vesicle, uv = uterine vesicles, va = vagina.