Eurylepta aurantiaca Heath & McGregor, 1912

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

Eurylepta aurantiaca Heath & McGregor, 1912

Fig. 6

Material examined.

Yucatan coast, Mexico • 1; Dzilam; 21.5 ° N, 88.9 ° W; 9.3 m; 8 May 2018; A. Hernández leg.; CRPPY - 0088 .

Distribution.

The species was recorded in Monterey Bay, California ( Heath and McGregor 1912); Washington State, USA ( Hyman 1955), the Caribbean Sea of Colombia ( Quiroga et al. 2004 a, 2004 b); Brazil ( Bahia et al. 2014); India ( Pitale and Apte 2019). This work represents a new record for the Yucatan coast. New record for the Gulf of Mexico.

Description.

Body shape elliptical, 1.7 cm in length and 0.5 cm in width, with a translucent to orange-pink colouration, white spots on the dorsal side, and a reddish median line with reddish dots (Fig. 6 A, B, D ). Intestinal branches apparent (Fig. 6 C, E ). Whitish tentacles. Cerebral eyes are in two elongated clusters, and tentacular eyes in the basal region of the tentacles. Two frontal eye clusters located between the tentacles.

Remarks.

The specimen collected from the Mexican coast exhibits a pigmentation characterised by a pinkish orange hue, as illustrated in Fig. 6 A , congruent with the characterisation reported by Bahia et al. (2014).

Figures

Figure 6. Eurylepta aurantiaca A dorsal view B anterior region, cerebral eyes C ventral view D Eurylepta aurantiaca in situ E detail of pharynx, male and female gonopores, uteri, and sucker.