Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T23:00:03.617Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Two new Pseudoceros (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Pseudocerotidae) from Agatti Island, India and a species checklist from Indian waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2021

Sudhanshu Dixit*
Affiliation:
Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Atal Bhavan, Puthuvype, 682508, Kochi, India
Hashim Manjebrayakath
Affiliation:
Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Atal Bhavan, Puthuvype, 682508, Kochi, India
Narayanane Saravanane
Affiliation:
Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Atal Bhavan, Puthuvype, 682508, Kochi, India
*
Author for correspondence: Sudhanshu Dixit, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The Lakshadweep archipelago constitutes a major coral region of India but still lacks sufficient biodiversity data owing to its remoteness and a low number of faunal studies in the past. The present paper describes two new Pseudoceros species collected from Agatti Island, Lakshadweep, India. Pseudoceros bipurpurea sp. nov. and Pseudoceros galaxea sp. nov. are described based on external and internal characters, supported with histological studies and photographs. Pseudoceros bipurpurea sp. nov. is characterized by a cream background colour and an orange median line surrounded by dense patches of purple spots, which tend to disperse and broaden towards the posterior end. Pseudoceros galaxea sp. nov. displays a brown background colour with numerous white to cream dots covering almost the entire dorsal surface and a thin black margin. This study adds two new species to the polyclad fauna in Indian waters, raising the count to 68 species. An updated checklist of polyclads from Indian coast is also provided.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apte, D and Pitale, RD (2011) New records of polyclad flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria) from coral reefs of Lakshadweep Island, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 108, 109113.Google Scholar
Bock, S (1913) Studien über Polycladen. Zoologiska Bijdrag fran Uppsala 2, 31344.Google Scholar
Bolanos, DM, Quiroga, SY and Litvaitis, MK (2007) Five new species of cotylean flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the wider Caribbean. Zootaxa 1650, 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulnes, VN and Torres, Y (2014) Pseudoceros astrorum, a new species of Polycladida (Cotylea, Pseudocerotidae) from Northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa 3881, 94100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collingwood, C (1876) On thirty-one species of marine planarians, collected partly by the late Dr Kelaart, F.L.S. at Trincomalee, and partly by Dr Collingwood, F.L.S. in the eastern seas. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Series 2, Zoology 1, 8398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuadrado, D, Moro, L and Noreña, C (2017) The Polycladida (Platyhelminthes) of the Canary Islands. New genus, species and records. Zootaxa 4312, 3868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Quatrefages, A (1845) Études sur les types inférieurs de l'embranchement des annelés: mémoire sur quelques planairées marines appartenant aux genres Tricelis (Ehr.), Polycelis (Ehr.), Prosthiostomum (Nob.), Proceros (Nob.), Eolidiceros (Nob.), et Stylochus (Ehr). Annales des Sciences Naturelles 4, 129184.Google Scholar
Dixit, S (2018) Taxonomy and Distribution of Family Pseudocerotidae (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida), Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. PhD thesis, Pondicherry University, India.Google Scholar
Dixit, S and Raghunathan, C (2013) Polyclads of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Journal of the Andaman Science Association 18, 165169.Google Scholar
Dixit, S, Sivaperuman, C and Raghunathan, C (2015) Three new records of polyclad flatworms from India. Marine Biodiversity Records 8, e29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixit, S, Raghunathan, C and Chandra, K (2017 a) Two new marine flatworms (Polycladida: Pseudocerotidae) from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Zootaxa 4221, 111122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixit, S, Raghunathan, C and Chandra, K (2017 b) Two new Pseudoceros (Polycladida: Pseudocerotidae) and a Prostheceraeus (Polycladida: Euryleptidae) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Zootaxa 4269, 495512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixit, S, Sivaperuman, C and Raghunathan, C (2018 a) Description of two new pseudocerotids (Rahabditophora: Rhabditophora; Polycladida) from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Zootaxa 4403, 365377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixit, S, Sivaperuman, C and Raghunathan, C (2018 b) Erratum. Zootaxa 4442, 600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixit, S, Bulnes, VN and Raghunathan, C (2018 c) Neotype designation for the marine flatworm, Acanthozoon alderi (Polycladida: Cotylea: Pseudocerotidae), from India with comments on the taxonomical status of the genus. Zoological Studies 57, 45.Google Scholar
Dixit, S, Bayyana, S, Manjebrayakat, H, Saravanane, N and Sudhakar, M (2019) Polyclad fauna of Agatti Island, Lakshadweep, India: new records and description of two new species. Zootaxa 4657, 246260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixit, S, Manjebrayakat, H and Saravanane, N (2021) A rare polyclad genus Bulaceros (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Pseudocerotidae): new species and new record from Indian coral atolls. Marine Biology Research 16, 632642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrenberg, CG (1831) Phytozoa, Turbellaria africana et asiatica. In Hemprich PC and Ehrenberg CG (eds), “Symbolae physicae.” Animalia evertebrata exclusis insectis recensuit Dr. CG Ehrenberg. Series prima cum tabularum decade prima. Berolini, Fol. Phytozoa Turbellaria folia a–d, T4–5 [plates 4, 5 published in 1828].Google Scholar
Faubel, A (1983) The Polycladida, Turbellaria. Proposal and establishment of a new system. Part I. The Acotylea. Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut 80, 17121.Google Scholar
Faubel, A (1984) The Polycladida, Turbellaria. Proposal and establishment of a new system. Part II. The Cotylea. Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut 81, 189259.Google Scholar
Ghosh, AK (1991) Fauna of Lakshadweep: an overview. Fauna of Lakshadweep: State Fauna Series 2. Zoological survey of India. http://faunaofindia.nic.in/php/sfs/sfs_books_toc.php?book_id=005&type=sfs&book_title=Fauna+of+Lakshadweep.Google Scholar
Goggin, CL and Newman, LJ (1996) Use of molecular data to discriminate pseudocerotid turbellarians. Journal of Helminthology 70, 123126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, H and McGregor, E (1912–1913) New polyclads from Monterey Bay, California. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia 64, 455488.Google Scholar
Hyman, LH (1953) The polyclad flatworms of the Pacific coast of North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 100, 265392.Google Scholar
Hyman, LH (1959) A further study of Micronesian polyclad flatworms. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 108, 543597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jie, WB, Gan, BQ, Cgen, VY and Kuo, SH (2016) Pseudoceros magangensis: a new species of pseudocerotid flatworm (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from Taiwan. Platax 13, 3350.Google Scholar
Kaburaki, T (1923) The polyclad turbellarians from the Philippine Islands. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 100, 635649.Google Scholar
Kato, K (1934) Polyclad turbellarians from the neighborhood of the Mitsui Institute of Marine Biology. Japanese Journal of Zoology 6, 123129.Google Scholar
Kato, K (1937) Polyclads collected in Idu, Japan. Japanese Journal of Zoology 7, 211231.Google Scholar
Kelaart, EF (1858) Description of new and little known species of Ceylon nudibranchiate molluscs and zoophytes. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, 84139.Google Scholar
Laidlaw, FF (1902) The marine Turbellaria with an account of the anatomy of some species. In Gardiner, JS (ed.), The Fauna and Geography of the Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes: Being the Account of the Work Carried on and of the Collections Made by an Expedition During the Years 1899 and 1900, vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 282312.Google Scholar
Laidlaw, FF (1903) On a collection of Turbellaria Polycladida from the Straits of Malacca. (Skeat Expedition 1899–1900). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1, 301318.Google Scholar
Laidlaw, FF (1904) Report on the polyclad Turbellaria collected by Professor Herdman at Ceylon, in 1902. Royal Society Report to Ceylon Government on Pearl Oyster Fisheries of Gulf of Mannar Part 2, 127136. https://www.worldcat.org/title/report-on-the-polyclad-turbellaria-collected-by-professor-herdman-at-ceylon-in-1902/oclc/77785592.Google Scholar
Lang, A (1881) Der Bau von Gunda segmentata und die Verwandtschaft der Plathelminthen mit. Coelenteraten und Hirudineen 3, 187251.Google Scholar
Lang, A (1884) Die Polycladen (Seeplanarien) des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeresabschnitte. Eine Monographie. Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel 11. Leipzig: Engelmann. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.10545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litvaitis, MK and Newman, LJ (2001) A molecular framework for the phylogeny of Pseudocerotidae (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida). Hydrobiologia 444, 177182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, E (1952) Turbellaria brasileiros (10). Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras da Universidade de São Paulo. Zoologia 17, 5186.Google Scholar
Marquina, D, Aguado, MT and Noreña, C (2015) New records of Cotylea (Polycladida, Platyhelminthes) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with remarks on the distribution of the Pseudoceros Lang, 1884 and Pseudobiceros Faubel, 1984 species of the Indo-Pacific Marine Region. Zootaxa 4019, 354377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meixner, A (1907 a) Polykladen von der Somalikuest, nebst einer Revision der Stylochinen. Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie 88, 385498.Google Scholar
Meixner, A (1907 b) Polyclades recueillis par M. Ch. Gravier dans le golfe de Tadjourah en 1904. Bulletin du Muséum d'histoire naturelle Paris 2, 164172.Google Scholar
Meyer, F (1922) Polycladen von Koseir (Rotes Meer). (Kollektion Professor Klunzinger.) Archiv für Naturgeschichte Abteilung A 87, 138158.Google Scholar
Newman, LJ and Cannon, LRG (1994) Pseudoceros and Pseudobiceros (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida, Pseudocertotidae) from eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 37, 205266.Google Scholar
Newman, LJ and Cannon, LRG (1996) New genera of pseudocerotid flatworms (Platyhelminthes; Polycladida) from Australian and Papua New Guinean coral reefs. Journal of Natural History 30, 14251441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, LJ and Anderson, C (1997) A new polyclad flatworm from the Maldives. Journal of South Asian Natural History 2, 237245.Google Scholar
Newman, LJ and Cannon, LRG (1997) Nine new species of Pseudobiceros (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the Indo-Pacific. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 45, 341368.Google Scholar
Newman, LJ and Cannon, LRG (1998) Pseudoceros (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the Indo-Pacific with twelve new species from the Australia and Papua New Guinea. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 46, 293323.Google Scholar
Newman, LJ and Cannon, LRG (2000) A new genus of euryleptid flatworm (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida) from the Indo-Pacific. Journal of Natural History 34, 191205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, LJ and Schupp, P (2002) A new pseudocerotid flatworm (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida) from the Indo-Pacific. Micronesica 34, 177184.Google Scholar
Newman, LJ and Cannon, LRG (2003) Marine Flatworms. The World of Polyclads. Clayton: CSIRO Publishing, 97 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitale, R and Apte, D (2017) First record of Thysanozoon brocchii (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from Indian waters. Marine Biodiversity Records 10, 111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitale, R and Apte, D (2019) Intertidal euryleptid polyclads and description of a new Stylostomum Lang, 1884 from Maharashtra, India. Zootaxa 4652, 317339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitale, R, Bhave, V and Apte, D (2014) First record of family Prosthiostomidae and Prosthiostomum trilineatum (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the west coast of India. Marine Biodiversity Records 7, 16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plehn, M (1896) Neue Polycladen, gesammelt von Herrn Kapitän Chierchia bei der Erdumschiffung der Korvette Vettor Pisani, von Herrn Prof. Dr. Kükenthal im nördlichen Eismeer und von Herrn Prof Dr. Semon in Java. Jenaische Zeitschrift 30, 137181.Google Scholar
Prudhoe, S (1952) Manihine Expedition to the Gulf of Aqaba, 1948–1949. IV. Turbellaria: Polycladida. British Museum (Natural History) Bulletin, Zoology 1, 175179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prudhoe, S (1982) Polyclad turbellarians from the southern coasts of Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 18, 361384.Google Scholar
Prudhoe, S (1989) Polyclad turbellarians recorded from African waters. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History, Zoology 55, 4796.Google Scholar
Ramos-Sanchez, M, Bahia, J and Bastida-Zavala, R (2020) Five new species of cotylean flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Cotylea) from Oaxaca, southern Mexican Pacific. Zootaxa 4819, 4983.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Risso, A (1818) Mémoire sur quelques Gastéropodes nouveaux Nudibranches et Tectibranches observés dans la mer de Nice. Journal de physique, de chimie, d'histoire naturelle et des arts 87, 272376.Google Scholar
Schmarda, LK (1859) Neue wirbellose Thiere beobachtet und gesammelt auf einer Reise um die Erde 1853 bis 1857. Bd I: Neue Turbellarien, Rotatorien und Anneliden. W. Engelmann, Leipzig. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.85313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shrinivaasu, S, Venkataraman, K and Venkatraman, C (2018) Cryptofaunal pseudoceratid polyclads of Gulf of Mannar. Global Journal of Bioscience and Biotechnology 7, 1923.Google Scholar
Sreeraj, CR and Raghunathan, C (2011) New records of pseudocerotid polyclads from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Marine Biodiversity Records 4, e73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sreeraj, CR and Raghunathan, C (2013) Pseudocerotid polyclads (Platyhelminthes, Turbellaria, Polycladida) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 3, 3641.Google Scholar
Sreeraj, CR and Raghunathan, C (2015) A report on the coral reef dwelling polyclads of Nicobar Islands, India. Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 5, 8388.Google Scholar
Sreeraj, CR, Raghunathan, C, Raghuraman, R, Dixit, S and Venkataraman, K (2015) Polyclads of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kolakata: Zoological Survey of India, 100 pp.Google Scholar
Tyler, S, Artois, T, Schilling, S, Hooge, M and Bush, LF (eds) (2006–2020) World List of turbellarian worms: Acoelomorpha, Catenulida, Rhabditophora. Pseudoceros Lang, 1884. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=142241 (Accessed 15 August 2020).Google Scholar
Velasquez, X, Bolaños, DM and Benayahu, Y (2018) New records of cotylean flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida Rhabditophora) from coastal habitats of Israel. Zootaxa 4438, 237260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verrill, AE (1901) Additions to the fauna of the Bermudas from the Yale Expedition of 1901, with notes on other species. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 11, 1562.Google Scholar
Yeri, M and Kaburaki, T (1920) Notes on two new species of Japanese polyclads. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses 9, 591598.Google Scholar