Hello, I found high abundances of these ribbon worms ( nemerta ) in my samples from a marina in Brittany (France) and I would like to put a species name on these considering their abundance.
I figured they might be a Tetrastemmidae due to the four eyes in rectangular pattern. Tetrastemma Cephalophorum has a very similar head to my candidates, however the color pattern is quite different since usually only have two longitudinal streaks.
Oerstedia dorsalis (Prosorhochmidae) might also be a possibility.
The individuals are 1 cm-1.3 cm max. length and 1 mm-2 mm wide (cylindrical). Since they were found in a marina they don't necessarily are indigenous to Europe.
Very interesting to see your findings. You may try to compare the morphometric data among all available species under the genus both internal and external. Since these group of animal has the record of having longest animal, their ability regenerate and some particular sticky secretions they produce, I hope you will definitely find interesting observations. External colour striation may be a characteristic feature of the claimed new species.
Hi Robin, I think this species, for the distribution you found it, can be Vieitezia luzmurubeae.
V. luzmurubeae has been collected freely on the bottom, but it is easy to find it inside the ascidians Ciona intestinalis and Phallusia mamillata. Although this species is hermaphroditic, it is morphologically similar to Tetrastemma vittigerum (Junoy et al., 2010).
You can find more info here:
(in Spanish) http://www.herrerabachiller.com/nemertea/hoplonemertea/monostilifera/vieitezia/vieitezia-luzmurubeae/
and here: http://www.juanjunoy.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2010-Junoy_Andrade_Giribet_IS2011.-Vieitezia-luzmurubeae.pdf
Thank you all for your answers. Alfonso Herrera-Bachiller thank you a lot, this is absolutely it. The individuals have been found on Ciona intestinalis so this further confirms your identification.
- Badges
- Science topic