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Thysanozoon nigropapillosum (Hyman, 1959). Anterior is to the right. A, dorsal view; B, ventral view. ce, cerebral eyespots; fp, female pore; m, mouth; mp, male pore; ph, pharynx; pt, pseudotentacle; s, sucker.
Source publication
Thysanozoon nigropapillosurn (Hyman, 1959) is a marine polyclad flatworm found in the central Pacific. We believe that Hyman's original description of this species in having a yellow body margin and white papilla tips was in error, and we re-described its color patterns as having white body margin and yellow-tipped papillae based on fresh specimens...
Citations
... Precopulatory behavior of penis fencing, in which the flatworms use their extensively everted penis to stab one another on any part of the body while trying to avoid being inseminated, has been documented in two species from the family Pseudocerotidae, namely Pseudoceros bifurcus (Michiels & Newman, 1998) and P. indicus (Chim et al., 2015). Other than these publications, there have been only brief descriptions of the mating behaviors of Thysanozoon nigropapillosum (Jie, Kuo, & Mok, 2014) and Pseudoceros magangensis (Jie, Gan, Chen, & Kuo, 2016). ...
... However, dermal impregnation was reported in Thysanozoon brocchii and Th. nigropapilosum (Gammoudi et al., 2012;Jie et al., 2014) (Table 2) Although not as many batches of eggs were collected for some species, there was little deviation in the embryonic stages and duration of development within these small sample sizes ( Figure 35). ...
The reproductive biology of tropical marine cotylean polyclads is presently poorly known. Reproductive aspects of 16 polyclad species from the family Pseudocerotidae in the genera Acanthozoon , Nymphozoon , Phrikoceros , Pseudobiceros , Pseudoceros , Thysanozoon , and Tytthosoceros from Singapore were documented for the first time. Penis fencing was observed to be just a mating ritual and not necessary for insemination, not always aggressive, and could also result in eventual reciprocal insemination. Results showed that all species underwent similar embryonic developmental stages and hatched as Müller's larvae. Only Pseudoceros concinnus and Pseudoceros laingensis , with mean developmental times of >20 days and mean brood sizes of <1,000 eggs, displayed long‐term parental care. Polyclads producing larger brood sizes had shorter developmental times and only covered their egg masses for about one day. Phrikoceros baibaiye and Pseudobiceros spp. produced egg capsules with pointed opercula, whereas all other species possessed smooth, rounded opercula. All genera hatched with brownish‐orange larvae, except for Pseudoceros spp., which hatched with reddish‐purple larvae regardless of the initial embryo color (either grayish‐yellow or reddish‐purple). These could potentially complement current taxonomic characters in distinguishing polyclad genera and species.
... It feeds on tunicates and can be frequently seen where these are abundant. Like others flatworms, members of this species are hermaphrodites (Jie et al. 2014). ...
In a previous study, we identified host species that housed high and low diversity prokaryotic communities. In the present study, we expand on this and assessed the prokaryotic communities associated with seawater, sediment and 11 host species from 7 different phyla in a Taiwanese coral reef setting. The host taxa sampled included hard, octo- and black corals, molluscs, bryozoans, flatworms, fish and sea urchins. There were highly significant differences in composition among host species and all host species housed distinct communities from those found in seawater and sediment. In a hierarchical clustering analysis, samples from all host species, with the exception of the coral Galaxea astreata, formed significantly supported clusters. In addition to this, the coral G. astreata and the bryozoan Triphyllozoon inornatum on the one hand and the coral Tubastraea coccinea, the hermit crab Calcinus laevimanus and the flatworm Thysanozoon nigropapillosum on the other formed significantly supported clusters. In addition to composition, there were highly pronounced differences in richness and evenness among host species from the most diverse species, the bryozoan T. inornatum at 2518 ± 240 OTUs per 10,000 sequences to the least diverse species, the octocoral Cladiella sp. at 142 ± 14 OTUs per 10,000 sequences. In line with the differences in composition, there were significant differences in predicted metagenomic gene counts among host species. Furthermore, there were pronounced compositional and predicted functional differences between high diversity hosts (Liolophura japonica, G. astreata, T. coccinea, C. laevimanus, T. inornatum) and low diversity hosts (Antipathes sp., Pomacentrus coelestis, Modiolus auriculatus, T. nigropapillosum, Cladiella sp. and Diadema savigny). In particular, we found that all tested low diversity hosts were predicted to be enriched for the phosphotransferase system compared to high diversity hosts.
... Polyclads are distributed worldwide from temperate regions (Brusa et al., 2009;Brusa & Damborenea, 2011) to tropical waters (Marcus & Marcus, 1968;Newman & Cannon, 1994;Bolaños et al., 2006Bolaños et al., , 2007Quiroga et al., 2004;Litvaitis et al., 2010), exhibiting the highest diversity throughout the western Indo-Pacific Ocean (Newman & Cannon, 2003 and references therein). Despite the recent attention the group has received (Apte & Pitale, 2011;Bahia et al., 2012Bahia et al., , 2014Bulnes & Torres, 2014;Jie et al., 2014;Marquina et al., 2014a, b;Noreña et al., 2014;Sreeraj & Raghunathan 2011Maghsoudlou & Rahimian, 2014), polyclad biodiversity is still underestimated and poorly documented around the world. ...
A detailed taxonomic report of 16 species of polyclad flatworms found in Singapore during the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey is presented. Representatives of the genera Nymphozoon, Phrikoceros, Pseudobiceros, Pseudoceros, and Tytthosoceros are described using high quality photographs, extended descriptions with information on colour variation, together with a compilation of geographic distribution based on the known records. All species belong to the family Pseudocerotidae and all represent new records for Singapore except Pseudobiceros bedfordi, P. hancockanus, and Pseudoceros indicus. Identifications were based mainly on external morphological characters, with particular emphasis on their living colours and patterns. The genus Nymphozoon is re-described, and a new combination Nymphozoon orsaki nov. comb. is established as it is shown that the monotypic genus Maiazoon is a junior synonym of Nymphozoon. Emended diagnoses for Pseudobiceros damawan, P. hancockanus, and Pseudoceros laingensis are also included. Pseudoceros caeruleocinctus is reinstated as a valid species and is recognised as a senior synonym of Pseudoceros sapphirinus, while Pseudobiceros uniarborensis is identified as a junior synonym of Pseudobiceros hancockanus. This study shows that polyclads are significantly diverse in Singapore, and also highlights the need for further studies using both morphological and molecular data to confirm their identities.
The shallow coral reef ecosystems along the Indian coast are being threatened by anthropogenic global ocean warming and increased frequency of coral bleaching in the recent past. Identification and conservation of deeper reef habitats are essential as they serve as a source of larvae and livestock to replenish the shallow reef habitats. Information on the location and spatial extent of the mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) and their biodiversity is poorly known in the continental shelf of the east coast of India. In this study, we have documented the species diversity of MCEs at a depth of 30-40 m off Puducherry along the east coast of India. In total, 12 species of corals, including 5 black corals and 16 octocorals, 4 species of sponges and 31 species of coral-associated benthope-lagic fish species were recorded. Subergorgia sp. was the most dominant species of octocorals and found extensively as gorgonian forests. The MCEs reported in this study raise important questions about the origin and connectivity of the coral populations in this region to the other major coral reef ecosystems along the east coast. Understanding the physical processes and hy-drographic features around the MCEs, off Puducher-ry will reveal more information about the distribution and colonization of coral communities and their vulnerability to changes in future.
