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            | Vermilion flatworm Phrikoceros baibaiye
 Family 
            Pseudocerotidae
 updated 
            Feb 2020
 Where 
            seen? This small brightly coloured flatworm is sometimes seen on 
            coral rubble on some of our shores: mainly Chek Jawa and  Cyrene Reef. More active at night, but sometimes 
            seen moving about during the day. Usually, many individuals are seen, 
            and then not seen again for a long time.
 
 Features: 3-4cm long. The small 
            flatworm is plain red or orange (also described elsewhere as orange-brown 
            or rusty) with tiny white dots all over the upper surface (underside 
            uniformly plain without dots). The body margin is often highly ruffled and has no coloured margin. 
            It has a pair of  pseudotentacles that are squarish and ruffled on the sides, with white tips. 
            There is a short white line at the head. The mouth appears to the 
            near the centre of the underside of the body.
 
 Little  flatworms are active and fast moving, often ruffling out 
            from one crevice to another among coral rubble. They may even swim 
            for a short distance with vigorous ripples of their body edges. When 
            they are in season, some may be seen stranded on sand. Please watch 
            your step!
 |  
        
          |  Cyrene Reef, Jun 10
 
 |   Pulau Sekudu, Jul 05
 |  Pseudotentacles are squarish, ruffled on the sides, with white tips.
 |  
 
        
          
            | Vermilion flatworms on Singapore shores |  
 
        
          
            | Other sightings on Singapore shores |  
 
        
          |  Chek Jawa, Oct 10
 Photo shared by Neo Mei Lin on her 
          blog.
 |  Chek Jawa, Jan 14
 Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on his blog.
 |  
 
        
          |  Cyrene Reef, Feb 16
 Photo shared by Lok Kok Sheng on his 
                blog.
 |  Cyrene Reef, Aug 12
 Photo shared by Lok Kok Sheng on his 
          blog.
 |  
 
        
          |  Cyrene Reef, Aug 18*
 Photo shared by Jonathan Tan on facebook.
 |  Cyrene Reef, Aug 18
 Photo shared by Marcus Ng on facebook.
 |  
 
        
          |  Cyrene Reef, Aug 18
 Photo shared by Abel Yeo on facebook.
 |  Cyrene Reef, Jun 20
 Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook.
 |  Cyrene Reef, Sep 20
 Photo shared by Jianlin Liu on facebook.
 |  
 
        
          |  Pulau Semakau, Aug 11
 Photo shared by Lok Kok Sheng on his 
                blog.
 |  Pulau Semakau, Aug 10
 Photo shared by Neo Mei Lin on her 
          blog.
 |  |  
 
        
          
            | Pulau Semakau, Aug 10, shared by Marcus Ng 
  |  
 
         
          | AcknowledgementsGrateful thanks to Rene Ong for sharing details and identifying  the flatworms on this page.
 
 Links
 
              Phrikoceros 
                baibaiye on Encyclopedia of Life, LifeDesks, Marine Flatworms 
                - Polycladida: Technical fact sheet. References 
             
              Rene S.L. Ong and Samantha J.W. Tong. 29 October 2018. A preliminary checklist and photographic catalogue of polyclad flatworms recorded from Singapore. Nature in Singapore 2018 11: 77–125D. M. Bolaños, B. Q. Gan & R. S. L. Ong. 29 Jun 2016. First records of pseudocerotid flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Cotylea) from Singapore: A taxonomic report with remarks on colour variation.(pdf) The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement No. 34: 130-169  Pp. 130-169.Newman, Leslie 
                and Lester Cannon. 2003. Marine 
                  Flatworms: The World of Polyclads. 
                CSIRO Publishing. 97pp. |  |  |