''Acanthozoon'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

polyclad The Polycladida represents a highly diverse clade of free-living marine flatworms. They are known from the littoral to the Sublittoral zone, sublittoral zone (extending to the deep hot vents), and many species are common from coral reefs. Only a ...

flatworm The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegment ...

s belonging to the family

Pseudocerotidae Pseudocerotidae is a family of flatworms which includes the Bedford's flatworm. Pseudocerotidae are simple organisms categorized by their oval bodies and tentacles and bright colors. They use the cilia to glide along surfaces. Most commonly refer ...

Description

The

''Acanthozoon'' is physically characterized by a dorsal side with small raised papillae and ruffled edges. Their body is elongate oval. The

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of this

have a complex and very folded

pharynx The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its struc ...

. They also have small pseudo-

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s that prick up like ears. Because of their papillated upper surface, they are easily confused with species from the

Thysanozoon ''Thysanozoon'' is a genus of polyclad flatworms belonging to the family Pseudocerotidae. Species *''Thysanozoon alagoensis'' *''Thysanozoon aucklandicum'' *''Thysanozoon australe'' *''Thysanozoon brocchii'' *''Thysanozoon californicum'' ...

'', which are also endowed with dorsal papillae. However Acanthozoon possess only a single male copulative organ contrary to Thysanozoon.

Biology

This

live in warm tropical marine waters. They are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

and

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

Species list

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Acanthozoon'': *'' Acanthozoon albopapillosum''

Hyman Surname Hyman is the surname of: * Alan Hyman (1910–1999), author and screenwriter * Alexander C. Hyman (Born 1993), American Businessman * Albert Hyman (1893–1972), co-inventor of the artificial pacemaker * Anthony Hyman (disambiguation), se ...

, 1959 *'' Acanthozoon albopunctatum'' Prudhoe, 1977 *'' Acanthozoon alderi'' ( Collingwood, 1876) *'' Acanthozoon allmani'' ( Collingwood, 1876) *'' Acanthozoon armatum'' ( Kelaart, 1858) *'' Acanthozoon auropunctatum'' ( Kelaart, 1858) *'' Acanthozoon boehmigi'' (Stummer-Traunfels, 1895) *'' Acanthozoon fuscobulbosum'' (Dixit, Sivaperuman & Raghunathan, 2018 *'' Acanthozoon hispidum'' (Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, 1955) *'' Acanthozoon indicum'' ( Plehn, 1896) *'' Acanthozoon lepidum'' (Heath & McGregor, 1912) *'' Acanthozoon maculosum'' (Pearse, 1938) *'' Acanthozoon marginatum'' ( Plehn, 1896) *'' Acanthozoon obscurum'' (Stummer-Traunfels, 1895) *'' Acanthozoon ovale'' (

Schmarda Ludwig Karl Schmarda (23 August 1819 – 7 April 1908) was an Austrian naturalist and traveler, born at Olmütz, Moravia. Early life and education Schmarda was born at Olmütz where he attended the Grammar School and the Philosophical Course a ...

, 1859) *'' Acanthozoon papilionis'' ( Kelaart, 1858) *'' Acanthozoon plehni'' (Laidlaw, 1902) *'' Acanthozoon semperi'' (Stummer-Traunfels, 1895)

External links

Discover Life, Acanthozoon
* UBI

Bibliographical references

* Collingwood, 1876, ''On thirty-one species of marine Planarians, collected partly by the late Dr Kelaart F.L.S. at Trincomalee, and partly by D. Collingwood F.L.S. in the Eastern Seas.'', Linnean Society of London, Transactions II, Zoology,vol.1, p 83-98. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2822626 Rhabditophora genera Rhabditophora