Ceratoplana hawaiiensis Bock, 1925
photo: Cory Pittman. Worms collected by Gustav Paulay at or near Kewalo Basin, Honolulu, Hawai`i.

ID from Jean Poulter's chapter "Phylum Platyhelminthes" in Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii. Section 2. "This species is elongate oval ... 14 mm long and 6 mm wide. Alive, it is a translucent light yellowish tan color dorsally."

This species is found under the sea urchin Colobocentrus atratus (the common "Helmet Urchin"), which lives intertidally and supratidally on rocky shores subject to moderate to heavy wave action.

Poulter writes: "The very prominent nuchal tentacles distinguish this species from another polyclad, Discostylochus parcus, also collected under Colobocentrotus atratus." Ceratoplana hawaiiensis is probably endemic to Hawai`i. Poulter states that the similar Ceratoplana colobocentroti, collected under a similar urchin in Indonesia, is a separate species.

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