cf. Pseudoceros 17  
top two photos: Katie Samuelson, Pupukea, O`ahu.
3rd photo: Ralph Turre, Makena Landing, Maui. 25 ft. in rubble; length 3/8 in.
bottom photo: Mike Ryan, Maalaea Bay, Maui. 30 ft. in Halimeda.

Color description of Pseudoceros sp.17 from the Newman & Cannon CD: "Background cream with distinct orange spots. Marginal band narrow, black with thin yellow rim.... Rare. Indonesia; Papua New Guinea." Of two photos on the CD, the one taken in Indonesia shows a pale orange inner margin on the pseudotentacles. The one from Papua New Guinea does not.

Photos of very similar worms from Hawai`i, photographed by Katie Samuelson, Ralph Turre, and Mike Ryan are reproduced below. Katie's animal has definite orange spots and a cyan (instead of yellow) rim. The pseudotentacles have a wide black inner margin. Ralph's and Mike's worms have the same coloration with a good amount of orange bordering the wide black inner margin of the pseudotentacles.

A photo of a 12 mm. specimen by Scott Johnson in Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii, section 2. Plate 2.I.3f clearly shows orange spots, a wide blackish margin, and a thin yellow rim, but no orange marginal band on the pseudotentacles.

Just for the record, two photos (1) (2) taken by Mike Miller in Bali resemble the Indonesian worm on the CD. They are posted on the Flatworms of the World website. Mike's photos show a narrow black marginal band with a pale edge of indeterminate color and the same pale orange inner margin on the pseudotentacles that appear in the Indonesia photo on the CD.

BACK to spots or blotches
BACK to mottled or speckled w marginal bands
.