Pseudoceros ferrugineus     Hyman 1959

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This species has been observed on Mayotte Island


Order : Polycladida
Suborder : Cotylea
Superfamily : Pseudocerotoidea
Family : Pseudocerotidae
Distribution : Indo West Pacific
Maximal size : 60 mm
Abundance :


Species characteristics :

The general color is a bright rusty red blending into a narrow margin of brillant orange

The dorsal surface is flecked with white. The white flecks diminish towards the margin where the rusty red background is much more in evidence forming an inner margin red without dots

The bright orange marginal line is free from spots

Pseudocerosferrugineus
Showing species characteristics...

Photo Matthias Deuss
Mayotte, Nord-East reef, 17 November 2011

Bibliographic data :

Colour pattern variable, especially the width of the marginal bands and intensity of the background color
   The dorsal surface is liberally flecked with white on the rusty background and here and there these flecks fuse to form nebulous patches of clear white or tinged with pink in place.
   In some specimen, there is some indication of a narrow middorsal line of pale rust that fades away posteriorly
   Pseudotentacles simple folds
   Habitat : Found on the reef crest, out and about during the day, often feeding on colonial ascidians
   Ethymology : like iron rust for its rusty red colour

References :

Discover life : Pseudoceros ferrugineus
   Marine flatworms of the world : Pseudoceros ferrugineus
   Nudipixel : Pseudoceros ferrugineus

Publications :

Hyman, L.H. (1959).A further study of Micronesian polyclad flatworms. Proceedingsof the United States National Museum 108: 543–597
    Newman, L.J. & Cannon, L.R.G. (1994). Biodiversity of Australian polyclad flatworms. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 36: 159–163
    Newman, L.J. & Cannon, L.R.G. (1998). Pseudoceros (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida) from the Indo-Pacific with twelve new species from Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 46: 293–323
    Newman, L.J. & Cannon, L.R.G. (2003). Marine Flatworms: the world of Polyclads. CSIRO Publishing : Melbourne 112

Other photos of Pseudoceros ferrugineus :


 

Yvon Gildas

Mayotte, 28 September 2008

A specimen with a well developped red and orange marginal bands...


Yvon Gildas

Mayotte, Passe en S, 10 m, 31 March 2009, size : 60 mm

A large specimen with a strange coloration, probably a colour variant of P. ferrugineus...

The dorsal surface is liberally flecked with white on the rusty background and here and there these flecks fuse to form nebulous patches of clear white or tinged with pink in place.

 


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