#eurylepta

[anudibranchaday]

Phyllidia polkadotsa is a wonderfully named dorid nudibranch species found around Hawaii. It grows around 2.5cm long, and feeds on sponges.

Closely resembling Phyllidia polkadotsa is a species of flatworm in the Eurylepta genus. Mimicking nudibranchs is common in flatworms of the taxonomic order Polycladida, as nudibranchs are often toxic, so predators of the similarly coloured flatworm will stay away. Happy Flatworm Friday everyone!

Nudibranch photo source

Flatworm photo source

[drhoz]

#1377 - Maritigrella fuscopunctatus - Dusky Spotted Flatworm

AKA Eurylepta fuscopunctatus, and Pseudoceros fuscopunctatus. Another discovery by Andrea Watts at the Omeo Wreck here in Perth.

Initially I thought it was a nudibranch, going by the vivid colours, but I was quite wrong - it’s actually a Euryleptid flatworm.

Euryletids are free-swimming, active carnivores and scavengers, and feed by enveloping encrusting sponges and ascidians and pushing their stomach out through the mouth, which is also their anus.

They generally glide over the sea bottom but are also capable of swimming short distances by undulating their sides.  Common in shallow waters from Perth to Geographe Bay, but the colours and pattern can be surprisingly variable. The middle of the body may anything from orange to orange-brown to cream spots in a broad to narrow honeycomb pattern, or a single row of orange dots. Around the edges it can have large purple black (or sometimes creamy brown) spots (or blotches or sometimes as transverse lines) extending from the medial area in rows.