Notoplana annula Marcus & Marcus, 1968

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

Notoplana annula Marcus & Marcus, 1968

Fig. 21

Material examined.

Campeche coast, Mexico • 5; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 5 m; 10 Sep. 2017; A. Hernández leg.; CRPPY - 0009 • 8; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 0 m; 10 Sep. 2017; A. Gutiérrez leg.; CRPPY - 0010 • 1; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 0 m; 11 Sep. 2017; A. Hernández leg.; CRPPY - 0012 • 5; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 11 m; 11 Sep. 2017; A. Gutiérrez leg.; CRPPY - 0016 • 2; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 13 m; 14 Sep. 2017; A. Gutiérrez leg.; CRPPY - 0017 • 1; Cayos sumergidos del Oeste; 20.4 ° N, 92.2 ° W; 13 m; 14 Sep. 2017; A. Gutiérrez leg.; CRPPY - 0023 .

Distribution.

Recorded in Piscadera Bay and Fuik Bay, Curaçao and Virginia Key, Florida ( Marcus and Marcus 1968). New record in the Gulf of Mexico: Campeche, Mexico.

Description.

Body shape elongated and smooth, 0.7 cm in length and 0.3 cm in width. Pigmentation varies from whitish beige to greenish hues. Intestinal extensions well-branched, not anastomosing, extending to body margin, with contents visible due to transparency (Fig. 21 A ). Tentacular eyes form rounded cluster located in the brain, crossed by two, parallel, elongated clusters of cerebral eyes. Marginal eyes absent (Fig. 21 B ). Pharynx elongated, tapering along midsection of body. Male and female gonopores positioned posterior to the pharynx in the second 1 / 2 of the body.

Heading as above. Male copulatory system comprises an elongated seminal vesicle with two broad sperm ducts proximally (Fig. 21 C, D ). Prostatic vesicle interpolated, connected via a narrowing to the ejaculatory duct and the penis papilla. Ejaculatory duct with thin, long, curved stylet covered with a penial sheath. Atrium wide proximally and tubular distally. Female apparatus comprises a wide, densely ciliated female antrum, a ciliated external vagina with a sinuous course, the internal vagina, and Lang’s vesicle. Cement glands open into the vagina externa and oviducts into the vagina interna (Fig. 21 C, D ).

Figures

Figure 21. Notoplana annula A dorsal view B detail of cerebral and tentacular eyes C histological section of male and female copulatory organs D sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system.