''Pseudoceros dimidiatus'', the divided flatworm or tiger flatworm, is a

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 ...

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 ...

in the genus ''

Pseudoceros ''Pseudoceros'' is a genus of the flatworms Platyhelminthes. Description Easily recognized features within the genus include a ruffled pharynx, branched intestines, and tentacles on the leading edge. The tentacles may act as chemoreceptors ...

'', 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

''Pseudoceros dimidiatus'' grows to be up to . The body is elongated and oval, with a velvety dorsal surface, a grey-black ventral side and quite short pseudo tentacles formed by folds of the anterior margin. All individuals of the ''divided flatworm'' have a black body with an orange margin. Common characters are also two wide longitudinal yellow-greenish stripes usually separated by a narrow black median line. However, this species of ''Pseudoceros'' is highly variable in color and in pattern, in terms of the arrangement and width of the various transverse stripes and of the width of the longitudinal stripes. It can take at least three different types of liveries. It has bilateral symmetry. The bright and contrasting colors serve as a warning for

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

to not eat this inedible species. These flatworms feed exclusively on colonial

ascidian Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" ...

s. They are also cold blooded.

Distribution

This species is widespread in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and in the

Western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Reproduction

The Divided flatworm can reproduce both asexually, by dividing itself, and sexually. The species is a hermaphrodite, meaning that they have both male and female reproductive organs. When two flatworms reproduce they battle to decide who gets to fertilize and who is fertilized. The winner gets to act as the male, fertilizing the other.

Habitat

The divided flatworm lives in coral reefs in the tropical waters.

Bibliography

* Leslie Newman et Lester Cannon, Marine Flatworms, 2003 () * Neville Coleman, La vie marine des Maldives, 2004 () * http://diveadvisor.com/sub2o/fantastic-flatworms

Original text

* Kent : The Great Barrier Reef of Australia; its products and potentialities. W.H. Allen, London
Full text
.

References

Marine Animal Encyclopedia - Divided FlatwormsWoRMSLife DeskDiscover Life

External links

* Turbellaria Animals described in 1893 {{flatworm-stub