Phrikoceros mopsus ( Marcus, 1952 )

Cuadrado, Daniel, Hernández-Gonzalez, Alejandro, Noreña, Carolina & Simões, Nuno, 2024, Polyclads (Platyhelminthes) in the southern Gulf of Mexico: unveiling biodiversity and descriptions of two new species, ZooKeys 1221, pp. 103-144 : 103-144

Phrikoceros mopsus ( Marcus, 1952)

Fig. 15

Material examined.

Campeche coast, Mexico • 1; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 13 m; 14 Sep. 2017; A. Gutiérrez leg.; CRPPY - 0021; Quintana Roo coast, Mexico • 1; Mahahual; 18.6 ° N, 87.7 ° W; 13.6 m; 18 Mar. 2018; A. Hernández leg.; CRPPY - 0043 .

Distribution.

Phrikoceros mopsus was originally described in São Paulo, south-eastern Brazil ( Marcus 1952). Later it was recorded in Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao ( Marcus and Marcus 1968); Argentina ( Brusa et al. 2009; Bulnes et al. 2011); Brazil ( Bahia et al. 2012, 2014, 2017; Bahia and Schrödl 2018); Colombia ( Quiroga et al. 2004 a); India ( Sreeraj and Raghunathan 2015). This is the first record for the Campeche coast and Quintana Roo (Mexican Caribbean). New record for the Gulf of Mexico.

Description.

Body shape oval and elongated, with an extremely delicate consistency and a wavy margin, 3 cm in length and 1.5 cm in width. Marginal pseudotentacles deeply folded. Dorsally, with the characteristic small white spots on a caramel brown background, body midline darker. Marginal black rim, interrupted in the distal region of the pseudotentacles. (Fig. 15 A, B ). Two cerebral eyes clusters horseshoe-shaped and slightly separated. Pseudotentacular eyes grouped in two clusters placed ventrally and dorsally (Fig. 15 C, D ). Ventral surface beige (Fig. 15 B ). Ruffled pharynx and oral opening in the first 1 / 3 of the body, close to male and female gonopores. Ventral sucker in the middle of the body (Fig. 15 B ).

Figures

Figure 15. Phrikoceros mopsus A dorsal view B ventral view C detail of the pseudotentacles and cerebral D marginal line and pseudotentacular eyes.