Pseudoceros bicolor Verrill 1901

Bahia, Juliana, Padula, Vinicius, Lavrado, Helena Passeri & Quiroga, Sigmer, 2014, Taxonomy of Cotylea (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from Cabo Frio, southeastern Brazil, with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 3873 (5), pp. 495-525 : 501

Pseudoceros bicolor Verrill 1901

( Fig. 5 )

Material examined. Two specimens (details in Table 1). One imature specimen (MNRJ-PLAT 35, 12 mm x 9 mm) as sagittal sections of reproductive structures (12 slides). Collected 30.12.2008 at Ilha do Papagaio, Cabo Frio, Brazil (22°53'53.21"S, 41°58'59.40"W). One imature specimen (MNRJ-PLAT 36, 12 mm x 8 mm) preserved in 70% ethanol. Collected 0 6.02.2009 at Praia das Conchas, Cabo Frio, Brazil (22°52'33.05"S, 41°58'39.27"W).

Distribution. Described from Birds Islands, Bermuda (type locality; Verrill 1901), reported from Curaçao ( Marcus & Marcus 1968), Caribbean coast of Colombia ( Quiroga et al. 2004b), Florida, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras and Caribbean coast of Panama (Rawlinson 2008), Brazil ( Bahia & Padula 2009). Specimens herein studied were found under rubbles in the intertidal and sublittoral zones.

Diagnosis. Dorsal coloration from yellow to dark brown, white spots present; white marginal band with greyish black transversal stripes; bright yellow to greenish marginal line sometimes present.

Taxonomic remarks. Pseudoceros bicolor , described without histological sections ( Verrill 1901), was amended by Litvaitis et al. (2010). These authors also studied the P. bi co l o r complex through a molecular approach. It was observed that specimens treated as a single species in papers such as Rawlinson (2008) and Bahia & Padula (2009) belong, in fact, to two distinct species with similar coloration pattern. The other species included in this complex is Pseudoceros rawlinsonae Bolaños, Quiroga & Litvaitis, 2007 . We separated specimens in the P. bicolor complex by considering P. b i c o l o r the ones without marginal line or with a thin line bright yellow to greenish at the worm margin, as indicated by Litvaitis et al. (2010). Our immature specimens were of a smaller size (12 mm x 9 mm) than originally described (30 mm x 15 mm), but they agree with features reported in the original description and recent amend ( Litvaitis et al. 2010).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Pseudoceros bicolor (MNRJ-PLAT 36). A. in vivo, dorsal view; B. MNRJ-PLAT 35 in vivo, dorsal view; C. detail of the anterior region showing eyespots and pseudotentacles; D. detail of the anterior ventral region; E. sagittal section of male system. ce: cerebral eyespots; fg: female gonopore; ib: internal band; it: main intestine; ma: male atrium; mg: male gonopore; mr: margin; ph: pharynx; te: tentacular eyespots; pe: penis; pt: pseudotentacles; su: sucker.