Pseudoceros indicus

Rene Ong Update on the (Pseudoceros indicus cf) flatworm's eggs which I've posted previously: The eggs has finally hatched! After 5 weeks! They are so cute, but simply moving too fast to make photographing them easy. I think they are Muller's larva. Am I right? Anyone has any advice on how to take care of them?

Queiroz Araújo wonderful!!!!

Emilio Lanna They look like muller larvae. Nice pics!

Marcela Bolaños Cute!! It is definitely a Mulle'sr larva. I'm very surprised it took 5 weeks to hatch. The black spot is the eye, they usually have three eye spots. We could keep the larvae in the lab for 20 days feeding them with microalgae Isochrysis sp. but after that they died. However, we could see some changes such us slightly reduced lobes and reduce in size overall but not complete metamorphosis :(

Rene Ong Yes, Marcela Bolaños, somehow the eggs is taking that long. We have another flatworm which also has laid eggs. So we will see if that also take as long. Meanwhile the one that laid these larvae, had laid another batch of new eggs! And yes, we getting microalgae to feed them...

Rene Ong BTW, the larvae has three eyespots. It just refused to stop moving, even after placing it under glass slide. So I couldn't get good, clear photos...

Rene Ong Closer look at the flatworm's (Pseudoceros indicus cf) eggs...

Rene Ong Flatworm (Pseudoceros indicus cf) exhibiting parental care over its eggs.

Marcela Bolaños They do have parental care!!

Marcela Bolaños http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222930802262758#.UhjpEn_fKSo

Rene Ong Thank you! I have gotten your paper. It's very helpful. It is starting to leave the egg mass periodically. The time spent away seems to be increasing.

Rene Ong Flatworms penis-fencing. Possibly Pseudoceros indicus. From Singapore. Is there anyone studying/ looking at Pseudoceros sp reproduction/ mating process???

Lindz Warren You might like to take a look at this website which has lots of information and ids of marine flatworms. Yes, studies on reproduction has been carried out and probably still is. :-)

Lindz Warren http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~bu6/flatintr.htm

חימנה ולאסקז Hi, yes there are some studies regard to mating in polyclads, not only with the genus pseudoceros, I did a research on reproductive behavior on polyclads from the Caribbean. The family Pseudocerotidae present hypodermic insemination like most of the cotyleans. the most representative research on mating on polyclads is: Michiels N.K. & Newman L.J. (1998) Sex and Violence in Hermaphrodites. Nature, 391:647. you also can read this web, it is a nice abstract about reproductive behavior on polyclads and also you can find the reference of more studies. http://academic.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching/web_2010/AmeliaMegana2/mechanism.html

Rene Ong Thank you very much for the info. Do you happen to know how long, after successful inseminations, would it lay eggs? Or perhaps there must be presence of food source before they would do so?

חימנה ולאסקז Those 2 articles are going to help you and give you some idea, I consider how long after the insemination the worm will lay eggs depend of the species and the type of the insemination. you can try to observe whether the presence or absence of food is a factor. it will be interesting. I have had worms in starvation and they have laid eggs. RAWLINSON, K., BOLAÑOS, M., LIANA, M. Y LITVAITIS, M. 2008. Reproduction, development and parental care in two direct-developing flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Acotylea). J. Nat. Hist., 42(33-34): 2173-2192. Newman, L.J., Norenburg, J.L. & Reed, S (2000) Taxonomic and Biological observation on the tiger Flatworm Maritigrella crozieri, (Hyman, 1939) new combination Platyhelminthes, Polycladida, Euryleptidae) J. Nat. Hist., 34: 799-808.

Rene Ong Thank you very much! Will try find the papers. Yes, am observing if absence of food is a factor. The pair had 'mated' almost everyday for a whole week! But yet no eggs laid. I don't have any food for them, so they are starving by now I guess...

חימנה ולאסקז I can send you the articles if you want, send me you mail. have you observed they have reciprocal insemination? the hypodermic insemination tend to be reciprocal in polyclads, I observed it in my research and also in other studies was observed, both flatworms stab their penis through the epidermis of the other, although sometimes only one. in addition, it is observed sperm stains on the dorsal surfaces of both worms. have you had the worms all the time together? I recommend you that after you observed they mated several times, put each worm separated and observe if both worms lay eggs or only one. it will be interesting. After you get eggs you can observe their development. they would present an indirect development involving a Muller larva like all of the Cotyleas.

Rene Ong Yes, they have reciprocal insemination. It's interesting how the one who failed to stab the other would continue to try until it finally succeed. So both will always end up having that an obvious white bump which will disappear the next day. I only have them together for a week, and seeing no eggs laid, I decided to separate them to see who will laid eggs. Been a couple of days, but nothing. In fact they hardly moves. I have a video of them in action. Will upload shortly.

חימנה ולאסקז ok, nice video, I am pretty sure both or one will lay eggs soon, good luck :).

Rene Ong Thank you. Still no eggs till now. They still hardly moves. Having kept them for more than a week, I am concerned they may just start disintegrating. So far the longest I managed to keep them alive is about two weeks. Btw, I've left you a message with my email address. I can't find the Newman's paper.

חימנה ולאסקז You should change the water 2 times at day, it can help you to keep them alive more time. I used to do it and I could keep them several weeks in the lab. I did not find your mail, please send me it again and I will send you the article.

Rene Ong Thanks! I've resend you a private message. It said it will be sent to you "other folder". I change the water daily...

Frans Ricc I found these flatworms during a dive in a mangrove forest in Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia). They were very abundant and maybe feeding on colonial tunicates. They look very similar to me, differing (at least the first and the third pic) only for the absence of the yellow stripe. Any help on the ID? Thanks (about 8-10 cm long, max depth 3 m).

Sudhanshu Dixit First one is Pseudoceros concinnus and second one is Pseudoceros indicus

Frans Ricc Thank you Sudhanshu

Rene Ong Hurray!!! The flatworm has finally laid eggs. Now lying protectively over its egg mass. Next challenge- keeping the eggs alive...

과빈치 Finally!!!

Sudhanshu Dixit congrats.......party time....:)

Sudhanshu Dixit keep updating about these eggs..

חימנה ולאסקז Nice. Both of them or only one?

Rene Ong Only one. Is that usually the case?

Lindz Warren This is possibly Pseudoceros indicus Newman & Schupp

Marcela Bolaños The larvae should hatch soon. Pseudoceros larvae take about a week to develop. I hope you can keep them alive after hatching :)

Rene Ong Thank you, Marcela. If it takes a week, then only a few more days the eggs may hatch. Any advice on how I should take care of the larvae?

Kati Burg ID help, please. Flatworm found at Alad Island, Romblon, Philippines

Arne Kuilman Pseudocerus laingensis or indicus ?

Roy Arthur David Lontoh Looks like Pseudoceros indicus

Kati Burg Thank you Arne and Roy Arthur David Lontoh!

Roy Arthur David Lontoh Anytime Kathrin Hachenberg :)