Hoploplana inquilina ( Wheeler, 1894 )

Cuadrado, Daniel, Hernández-Gonzalez, Alejandro, Noreña, Carolina & Simões, Nuno, 2024, Polyclads (Platyhelminthes) in the southern Gulf of Mexico: unveiling biodiversity and descriptions of two new species, ZooKeys 1221, pp. 103-144 : 103-144

Hoploplana inquilina ( Wheeler, 1894)

Fig. 25 A – D

Material examined.

Yucatan coast, Mexico • 1; Dzilam; 21.5 ° N, 88.9 ° W; 9.3 m; 8 May 2018; A. Hernández leg.; CRPPY - 0089 .

Distribution.

Hoploplana inquilina has been observed off St. Thomas Island, Caribbean ( Hyman 1939). It has been reported in the Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda, and the Central North Atlantic ( Prudhoe 1985); Cayman Islands, Caribbean ( Hyman 1954). Additionally, it has been found in shells in Massachusetts ( Hyman 1939, 1940). Specimens have also been documented in the mantle-cavity of Urosalpinx cinerea and Eupleura caudata in New Jersey ( Schlechter 1943), and in the mantle-cavity of Thais floridana in Florida and Louisiana ( Hyman 1944, 1954).

Description.

Body shape oval, 5 mm in length and 3 mm in width. Translucent bluish-to-grey background colour with a distinctive white reticulum on the dorsal surface that does not correspond to the intestine (Fig. 25 A, B ). This network extends to the periphery, appearing white in reflected light and black in transmitted light, as described by Wheeler (1894). Delicate tubular nuchal tentacles present. Two clusters of small, rounded cerebral eyes situated between the nuchal tentacles, with tentacular eyes at the base (Fig. 25 C ). Ruffled pharynx, branched intestine, and reproductive system milky white and visible dorsally and ventrally (Fig. 25 B, D ).

Figures

Figure 25. A – D Hoploplana inquilina A dorsal view B ventral view C anterior end, tentacles and tentacular eyes D ventral view, ruffled pharynx and reproduction organs E – H Hoploplana divae E dorsal view F ventral view G anterior end, tentacles H ventral view, ruffled pharynx and reproduction organ.