Thysanozoon brocchii (Risso, 1818) Grube, 1840

Norena, Carolina, Marquina, Daniel, Perez, Jacinto & Almon, Bruno, 2014, First records of Cotylea (Polycladida, Platyhelminthes) for the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, ZooKeys 404, pp. 1-22 : 13

Thysanozoon brocchii (Risso, 1818) Grube, 1840 Figure 7F, G

Remarks.

Thysanozoon brocchii belongs to the family Pseudocerotidae and is characterized by an oval, oblong body shape; marginal tentacles with eyes; a single pair of eye clusters which anastomose frontally (Figure 7F). The dorsal surface covered with characteristic acorn-like papillae, which may house small intestinal branches (Figure 7G). Reproductive system with the characteristics of the genus: i.e. a paired male apparatus with a seminal vesicle and armed penis papillae, a prostatic vesicle oriented antero- or medio-dorsally to the ejaculatory duct and a female apparatus with branched uteri.

Distribution.

One specimen of Thysanozoon brocchii was found under a rock in the estuary of Muros in Punta Insuela (Galicia, Spain) (10/05/2010) at a depth of 5 metres (42° 46.8550N, 009° 00.2610W). Thysanozoon brocchii is considered to be cosmopolitan with records from the Atlantic Ocean in South America, Peninsula Valdes ( Brusa et al. 2009), Mar del Plata ( Bulnes et al. 2011), Ilha de Sao Sebastiao, Ilha das Palmas; North America (Florida), Cape Verde Islands and South Africa; it is also recorded from the Pacific Ocean in Japan and Hawaii, and from the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, including the Suez Canal ( Prudhoe 1985). For the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, our collections represent the first record.