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Maritigrella crozieri Newman et al 2000
Pseudoceros crozieri; Cryptoceros crozieri

Life   Platyhelminthes   Rhabditophora   Euryleptidae   Maritigrella

Maritigrella crozieri, dorsal view
© Copyright Marian K. Litvaitis, University of New Hampshire, 2005-2007 · 2
Maritigrella crozieri, dorsal view

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IDnature guide

Kinds
Type Material at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University (YPM). Holotype: YPM No. 201153 sagittal sections 1-7, Bermuda.
Other Material: USNM 181300 S, two specimens, 22 Sept 1997, from hanging ropes, Little Jim's Marina, Fort Pierce Inlet; USNM 181301, S, same data; USNM 181302, S, 25 Sept 1997, in empty oyster shells on floating dock, Fort Pierce City Marina, M. Thile; USNM 181308, S, 2 Oct 1997, on Ecteinascidia turbinata attached to mangrove roots, Zane Grey Creek, Long Key; USNM 181303 longitudinal sections, 3 Oct 1997, same data; USNM 181304 longitudinal sections, same data; USNM 181305 longitudinal sections, same data; USNM 181306 longitudinal sections, same data; USNM 181307 longitudinal sections, same data; USNM 181312, S, 21 Feb 1998, Little Jim's Marina, Fort Pierce Inlet; USNM 181309, two, 27 Feb 1998, same data; USNM 181310, S, 5 March 1998, on E. turbinata attached to mangrove roots, Zane Grey Creek, Long Key; USNM 181211, S, same data; USNM 181313, S, 22 Sept 1998, same data; USNM 181314, S, two, same data

Identification
Dorsal color pattern variable; semi-transparent white-beige background with fine transverse, wavy, black lines; lines often broken and branching laterally, may end in black blotch or orange irregular patch; opaque white spots over dorsal surface; margin with narrow irregular banding of opaque white and outer orange semi-transparent band at the rim, intensity of orange pigment variable. Marginal tentacles orange with anterior black band, white tips. Ventral side cream-white.
Body oval with deep marginal ruffles. Cerebral eyes two elongate clusters about 35 eyes each. Tubular pharynx. Seminal vesicle rounded oval with thick muscular walls, prostatic vesicles rounded oval with muscular wall and smooth lining; sclerotized stylet. Uterine vesicles absent.

Names
Pseudoceros unidentified sp. Crozier, 1917: 725-729, figs 1-7 Pseudoceros crozieri Hyman 1939: 17-18, figures 23-26; Marcus and Marcus 1968: 73-75, figs 75-77; Prudhoe 1985: 194 Prostheceraeus zebra Hyman 1955: 266-267, figs 7, 8 Cryptoceros crozieri: Faubel 1984: 207, 215

Geographic distribution
Common from east-central Florida and the Florida Keys. Also reported from Bermuda (crozier 1917), Jamaica (Hyman 1955), and South Carolina (Ruppert and Fox 1988).

Natural history
Predators on Ecteinascidia turbinata. Orange pigment of ascidian injested and distributed through intestinal branches. Orange bolus regurgitated several hours after injestion.
Reproduction via hypodermic insemination. Sperm transfer in white bundles adhering to posterior epidermis of partner. Sperm bundles absorbed after about 12h. Oviposition 48h after copulation. Hatching into Mueller's larvae.

References
1. Crozier WJ (1917) On the pigmentation of a polyclad. Proc American Acad Arts Scie 52: 723-730
2. Hyman LH (1939) Acoel and polyclad Turbellaria from Bermuda and the Sargassum. Bull Bingham Oceanogr Collec 7: 1-26, 9 pages of plates
3. Hyman LH (1955b) A further study of the polyclad flatworms of the West Indian region. Bull mar Sci Gulf Carib 5: 259-268
4. Marcus Ev, Marcus Er (1968) Polycladida from Curaçao and faunistically related regions. Stud Fauna Curaçao other Caribb Is 26: 1-133
5. Faubel A (1984) The Polycladida, Turbellaria. Proposal and establishment of a new system. Part II. The Cotylea. Mitt Hamb zool Mus Inst 81: 189 – 259
6. Prudhoe S (1985) A Monograph on Polyclad Turbellaria. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
7. Ruppert EE, Fox RS (1988) Flatworms, in Sheashore Animals of the Southeast. Univ of Scouth Carolina Press, pp 180-182, Pl B33
8. Newman LJ, Norenburg JL, Reed S (2000) Taxonomic and biological observations on the tiger flatworm, Maritigrella crozieri (Hyman 1939), new combination (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida, Euryleptidae) from Florida waters. J Nat Hist 34: 799-808

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Updated: 2024-03-28 21:50:59 gmt
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