''Pseudobiceros gloriosus'' (common name: the glorious flatworm) is a
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 ...
marine
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 ...
species that belongs to the
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 ...
family. It is typically found in the tropical Indo-Pacific, from Eastern Africa to Micronesia, in the top or slope of reefs. It can be up to 3 in. (7.6 cm.) in length, and feeds on a multitude of invertebrates as gastropods and small crustaceans by engulfing their prey whole.
Physical characteristics
The body is flat, long and quite large. The background color is black with a velvety appearance. The body's margin is ornated with bands: the inner is wide and orange, the middle is narrow and pink and outer is a dark burgundy rim. The pseudotentacles have only the orange line. Some of the larger specimens can have a narrow pink median line, starting close to the cerebral eyespots and ending before the posterior margin. The body is slightly raised on the longitudinal median line and there are two square pseudotentacles with few eyes. The cerebral cluster consists of about 200 eyespots, presence of a long pharynx with simple folds.
External links
Life desk, Pseudobiceros gloriosus Discover Life, Pseudobiceros gloriosus
Bibliography and references
* Leslie Newman & Lester Cannon, "Marine Flatworms", CSIRO publishing, 2003,
* Neville Coleman, "Marine life of Maldives", Atoll editions, 2004,
* Andrea & Antonnella Ferrrari, "Macrolife", Nautilus publishing, 2003,
External links
*
Turbellaria
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