Pseudoceros rawlinsonae Bolanos, Quiroga & Litvaitis 2007
Creators: name: Bahia, Juliana
name: Padula, Vinicius
name: Lavrado, Helena Passeri
name: Quiroga, Sigmer
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Platyhelminthes
Rhabditophora
Polycladida
Pseudoceritidae
Pseudoceros
Pseudoceros rawlinsonae

description: Pseudoceros rawlinsonae Bolaños, Quiroga & Litvaitis 2007
(Fig. 6)
Material examined. Two specimens (MNRJ-PLAT 0 1, 9 x 6 mm e 8 x 6 mm) preserved in 70% ethanol, one as sagittal sections of reproductive structures (14 slides), collected 20.04.2008. One specimen (MNRJ-PLAT 0 4, 15 x 11 mm) as sagittal sections of reproductive structures (19 slides), collected 0 7.02.2009. One specimen (MNRJ- PLAT 37, 19 x 11 mm) as sagittal sections of the reproductive structures (18 slides), collected 30.08.2008. All collected at Praia das Conchas, Cabo Frio, Brazil (22o52’15.40’’S; 41o58’51.86’’W). One specimen (MNRJ-PLAT 38, 11 x 8 mm) as sagittal sections of reproductive structures (14 slides). Collected 0 1.09.2008 at Canal de Itajuru, Cabo Frio, Brazil (22º53’11’’S, 42º00’08’’W). One specimen (MNRJ-PLAT 39, 13 x 8 mm) as sagittal sections of reproductive structures (11 slides). Collected 30.12.2008 at Ilha do Papagaio, Cabo Frio, Brazil (22°53'53.21"S, 41°58'59.40"W).
Distribution. The species P. rawlinsonae was described from the American Virgin Islands and Bonaire (Bolaños et al. 2007). Posteriorly, after the revision of Pseudoceros bicolor complex, P. rawlinsonae was also reported from Florida, Honduras, Jamaica, Bahamas, Curaçao and Brazil (Bahia & Padula 2009; Litvaitis et al. 2010).
Diagnosis. Dorsal coloration from yellow to dark brown or black, scattered white spots sometimes present; marginal band white intersected by greyish black transversal stripes; marginal line gold yellow to orange. Prostatic and seminal vesicle small in relation to the penis.
Taxonomic remarks. This species was included in the P. bi col or complex due to its coloration pattern. Some specimens reported from Brazil as P. b i c o l o r (Bahia & Padula 2009) were in fact P. rawlinsonae. This was found out after the review of the P. bi col or complex (Litvaitis et al. 2010), which has clearly delimited the differences between these two species and made an emendation to the species description. It was observed that differences in marginal lines (P. b i c o l o r, bright yellow to greenish or absent, and P. rawlinsonae, golden yellow to orange) were reflected in the species separation genetically.
It is suggested that specimens collected in Brazil should be included in a futher comparative molecular analysis between P. b i c o l o r and P. rawlinsonae. Our specimens are in accordance with characteristics presented in the original description and in the revision by Litivaitis et al. (2010). We found both smaller and bigger specimens (variation between 8 x 6 mm and 19 x 11 mm) than originally described (17 x 7 mm) by Bolaños et al. (2007). In some specimens (Fig. 6 I), uteri were found to be full of eggs that reached 90 µm diameter. The color variation found in southeastern Brazil is illustrated in Fig. 7.
description: Published as part of Bahia, Juliana, Padula, Vinicius, Lavrado, Helena Passeri & Quiroga, Sigmer, 2014, Taxonomy of Cotylea (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from Cabo Frio, southeastern Brazil, with the description of a new species, pp. 495-525 in Zootaxa 3873 (5) on pages 501-503, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3873.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/287261