Red-tipped flatworms (Pseudoeros bifurcus) on the Shores of Singapore

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worms > Phylum Platyhelminthes > Class Turbellaria > Order Polycladida

Red-tipped flatworm
Pseudoceros bifurcus
Family Pseudocerotidae
updated Aug 10

Where seen? This stunning flatworm is sometimes seen on coral rubble near living reefs.

Features: 4-5cm long. Blue with a distinctive line down the length of the body that is black-bordered with a white centre ending in a red tip at the front end of the worm. It has a pair of erect pseudotentacles at the front made up of folded edges of the body.

Tuas, Nov 03

What does it eat? It eats colonial ascidians, possibly the pink ascidian.

Tuas, Nov 03

Red-tipped flatworms on Singapore shores

Sisters Island, May 07

Is it eating this pink ascidian?

Pulau Semakau, Feb 08
Shared by Lim Swee Cheng on his flickr.

St. John's Island, Aug 09
Shared by Toh Chay Hoon on her blog.

Sisters Island, Sep 09

Pulau Tekukor, May 10
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on his blog.

Sisters Island, Sep 10
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on his flickr.

Terumbu Semakau, Dec 11
Photo shared by James Koh on his blog.

References

Newman, L.J. & Cannon, L.R.G. Pseudoceros (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the Indo-Pacific with twelve new species from Australia and Papua New Guinea. Pp. 293-323. [pdf, 2178kb] in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology vol 46.
Newman, Leslie and Lester Cannon. 2003. Marine Flatworms: The World of Polyclads. CSIRO Publishing. 97pp.
Humann, Paul and Ned Deloach. 2010. Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific New World Publications. 497pp.
Kuiter, Rudie H and Helmut Debelius. 2009. World Atlas of Marine Fauna . IKAN-Unterwasserachiv. 723pp.

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