Thysanozoon brocchii (Risso, 1818) Grube 1840

(Fig. 11 N)

Tergipes brocchi Risso, 1818, page 373.

Planaria brocchii (Risso, 1818) Risso 1826, page 264.

Planaria tuberculata Delle Chiaje, 1828, Pl. XXV.

Thysanozoon tuberculatum (Delle chiaje) Grube 1840, page 55. Planaria verrucosa Delle Chiaje, 1829, page 180, 197.

Planaria dicquemaris var. verrucosa (Delle Chiaje, 1829) Delle Chiaje 1841, pt.III, page 132, pt.V, page 112. Stylochus papillosus Diesing, 1836, page 316.

Thysanozoon papillosus (Diesing) Grube 1840, page 56.

Thysanozoon diesingii Grube, 1840, page 55.

Planaria dicquemaris Delle Chiaje, 1822, Pl. CVIII.

Thysanozoon dicquemaris (Delle Chiaje) Örsted 1844, page 47. Eolidiceros panormus Quatrefage, 1845, page 142.

Thysanozoon panormus (Quatrefages, 1845) Diesing 1850, page 213. Planeolis panormus (Quatrefages) Stimpson 1857, page 20. Eolidicerosbrocchii (Risso) Quatrefage 1845, page 140.

Thysanozoon fockei Diesing, 1850, page 213.

Thysanozoon brocchii var. cruciatum Laidlaw, 1906, page 713. Thysanozoon lagidium Marcus, 1949, page 7, 81, 104. Thysanozoon spec. Schultze, 1854, page 222.

Thysanozoon spec. Moseley, 1877, page 29.

Material examined. Two specimens from Las Eras (21/06/2015), Tenerife, Canary Archipelago (Fig. 1, T2; Table 1 and 2). First one: 84 slides of sagittal serial sectioned specimen and stained with AZAN; Catalogue number: MNCN 4.01/ 1475-1559. Second one: 8 slides of sagittal serial sectioned specimen and stained with AZAN; Catalogue number: MNCN 4.01/ 1560-1568.

Type locality. Palermo, Sicily (Risso 1818).

Distribution. Trieste, Italy (Stossich 1882; Micolelzky 1910; Steinbock 1933; Stummer-Traunfels 1933); Naples, Italy (Diesing 1850; Lo Bianco 1888, 1899; Hyman 1940; Arndt 1943; Levetzow 1939); the Liguria Sea in the Mediterranean (Lanfranchi et al. 1981); other regions of Italy (Grube 1855; Graeffe 1860; Lang 1884; Palombi 1930); the Mediterranean Sea (Carus 1885; Pruvot 1897); south of France (Diesing 1836; Sabussow 1905; Kensler 1964); United Kingdom (Prudhoe 1982); Adriatic Sea (Graff 1886); in Japan (Yeri & Kaburaki 1918; Kato 1934, 1944; Utinomi 1956); Port Saíd, Egypt (Palombi 1928); Vietnam (Dawydoff 1952); False Bay, South Africa (Day et al. 1970); western and southern Africa (Palombi 1939); Algeria (Dieuzeide & Goeau-Brissoniere 1951); Florida (Hyman 1952; Pearse & Wharton 1938;); Brazil and Curacao (Marcus 1952; Marcus & Marcus 1968); Argentina (Bulnes et al 2011); New Zealand (Powell 1947; Morton & Miller 1968; Miller & Batt 1973); Laysan Island in the North Pacific (Plehn 1899); Canary Archipelago: present throughout the archipelago (De Vera et al. 2009).

Occurrence in the Canary Island. Thysanozoon brocchii was observed at depths of intertidal to 6 metres (intertidal zone) over the year.

Taxonomic remarks. Thysanozoon brocchii shows variations in colouration (from yellow to brown and black), and in papillae size and thickness. It is a cosmopolitan species with the capacity to adapt to different habitats.