Pseudoceros cf. prudhoei Newman and Cannon, 1994

Maghsoudlou, Abdolvahab & Rahimian, Hassan, 2014, Contribution to the knowledge of cotylean flatworms (Turbellaria, Polycladida) from Iranian coasts: Introducing a new species, with remarks on new records, Zootaxa 3860 (4), pp. 325-342 : 333

Pseudoceros cf. prudhoei Newman and Cannon, 1994

( Figure. 5)

Localities. Great Barrier Reef- Australia, Micronesia, Japan, Maldives, Philippines, USA ( Newman & Cannon, 2005).

Location in Iran. The Persian Gulf: Qeshm Island, Intertidal rocky shores of Salakh station and Chiruyeh station ( Fig. 1, Stations 30, 12 & Table 1). Two specimens were observed and photographed under stones covered with didemnid ascidians.

Material examined. Two lives specimens were examined in vitro: one autolysed immediately during fixation; the other one did not provide good tissue sections. However, within Pseudoceros , species are identified based on their color patterns ( Newman and Cannon 1997).

Description. Living animals 3 cm length; body margin slightly ruffled, dorsal body velvety black, with two distinct marginal bands, the inner band wide, grey-white and the outer band narrow, yellow ( Fig. 5 A); cerebral eyes with 33–44 eyes; ruffled pharynx with 10–12 folds. Male reproductive system with oblong seminal vesicle, 600 × 273 µm, free prostatic vesicle, small and spherical, 105 µm in size ( Fig 5 B); female reproductive system lost during sectioning.

Remarks. At a glance, the above described Pseudoceros specimen is similar to P. prudhoei , P. depiliktabub and Pseudobiceros flavocanthus originally introduced by Newman & Cannon ( 1994), but a closer look shows clear differences: P. prudhoei has an inner band of sky blue and an outer band of yellow or cream unlike the specimen described here; P. depiliktabub also has three marginal bands: inner band black-green, middle band yellow-cream, and a distinct bright orange rim; and Pseudobiceros flavocanthus is easily distinguished from Pseudoceros species by having two malegonopores. Our new reported species therefore looks very similar to a color variation of Pseudoceros prudhoei , known as Pseudoceros cf. prudhoei Newman and Cannon, 1994 , which is also listed in a multimedia CD on flatworm diversity ( Newman and Cannon 2005). This species is known from Maldives, Micronesia, Philippines, Japan, Australia ( Newman and Cannon 2005) and also from Mayotte and Madagascar Islands in the South-west Indian Ocean ( Bidgrain, 2010). Further studies are needed to determine whether or not these are the same morphotype.