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worms > Phylum Platyhelminthes > Class Turbellaria > Order Polycladida
Punctuated flatworm
Maritigrella fuscapunctata*
Family Euryleptidae
updated Oct 10

Where seen? Sometimes seen on Chek Jawa, among coral rubble usually at night.

Features: 5-7cm long. B
ody is beige with a pattern of black bars along the edges with a broad pale centre with a faint reticulated pattern. It has a pair of pseudotentacles at the front made up of folded edges of the body. A distinguishing feature is black spots on the pseudotentacles.

What does it eat?
Maritigrella flatworms eat ascidians by sucking out individual animals with their tube-shaped pharynx (a part of the gut) that can be pushed out through the mouth to engulf the prey.

Chek Jawa, Jun 03

Punctuated flatworms on Singapore shores

Chek Jawa, Aug 05


Chek Jawa, May 03

*Tentative identification. Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.

Acknowledgement
With grateful thanks to Leslie H. Harris of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for comments on this worm and its identification.

References
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