Biodiversity of intertidal marine flatworms (Polycladida, Platyhelminthes) in southeastern Australia
Author
Rodríguez, Jorge
0000-0003-4242-6053
Author
Hutchings, Pat A.
0000-0001-7521-3930
Author
Williamson, Jane E.
0000-0003-3627-4508
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-08-23
5024
1
1
63
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5024.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5024.1.1
1175-5326
5258775
81B95F8A-43CD-4273-8F25-5AC5405AC1C9
Paraplanocera marginata
Meyer, 1922
(
Fig. 10
)
Paraplanocera marginata
Meyer, 1922: 139–145
, pl. 1, figs 1–8, text figs 1–3a;
Prudhoe, 1945: 195
.
Material examined:
One
specimen sagittally sectioned.
AM
W.50277 (16 slides). A specimen was collected from
Australia
,
New South Wales
,
Toowoon Bay
, rocky headland adjacent to
SLSC
, found under rocks,
33°21’47.01”S
,
151°30’7.31”E
.
Coll. Jorge Rodriguez
,
Mandy Reid
and
Alison Miller
,
May 16
th
, 2018
.
Remarks:
The Toowoon
Bay
specimen agreed with the original species description by Meyer in 1922.Externally,
Paraplanocera marginata
Meyer, 1922
possesses a rounded body, a pair of nuchal tentacles and an orange yellow dorsal surface with scattered small white dots and a black marginal band with intermittent white streaks (
Fig. 9A
). Internally, the male copulatory system of
P. marginata
is characterised by the presence of a free prostatic vesicle provided with tubularly chambered glandular epithelium in its proximal region, two oval-shaped seminal vesicles, a cirrus lined with spines that grow larger distally, and the presence of an accessory prostatic vesicle at the distal end of the cirrus bulb. The female system is provided with a bursa copulatrix, cement glands grouped in two pockets, and a long Lang’s vesicle (
Fig. 9B, C
).
Meyer (1922)
described the marginal band of
P. marginata
as purple, while the one in the present specimen appeared black.
Prudhoe (1989)
notes that an individual of
P. marginata
from
Australia
was seen bearing a narrow submarginal black band, which matches that of the studied specimen.
Molecular remarks:
Paraplanocera marginata
Meyer, 1922
appeared together with another specimen from
Hawaii
(
USA
) sequenced by
Litvaitis
et al.
(2019)
with high support (100/1.00). The
Paraplanocera
clade also appeared as the closest relative to the
Planocera
clade with high support (99/1.00) in the
Planoceridae
family.
FIGURE 9.
Planocera edmondsi
Prudhoe, 1982
.
A.
Dorsal view of the fixed specimen (left), details of the tentacles (centre) and details of the pharynx and reproductive systems (right).
B.
Sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system.
C.
Histological sections of the reproductive system.
FIGURE 10.
Paraplanocera marginata
Meyer, 1922
.
A.
Dorsal view of the live specimen (left) and details of the tentacles on the fixed specimen.
B.
Arrangement of the eyes (left), details of the pharynx (centre) and details of the reproductive systems (right).
C.
Sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system.
D.
Histological sections of the reproductive system.
Distribution:
Red Sea (
Meyer 1922
,
type
locality);
Kenya
, Africa and the Persian Gulf (
Prudhoe 1945
);
USA
,
Hawaii
(
Litvaitis
et al.
2019
).
New record:
Toowoon Bay,
New South Wales
(
Australia
).