| Pseudobiceros hancockanus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Order: | Polycladida |
| Suborder: | Cotylea |
| Family: | Pseudocerotidae |
| Genus: | Pseudobiceros |
| Species: | P. hancockanus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudobiceros hancockanus (Collingwood, 1876) | |
Pseudobiceros hancockanus is a species of hermaphroditic marine flatworm in the family Pseudocerotidae. It is also known as Hancock's Flatworm.
According to the Baensch Marine Atlas, "P. hancockanus is intense blue to black with white and orange peripheral bands and a purple fringe. The two short cephalic antennaie are easily overlooked because they are the same color as the body. Inferiorly, this species is purple with a medial line." [1] P. hancockanus is very similar in appearance to P. uniarborensis , although the margin of P. uniarborensis is translucent gray with a white line only on the outside, while the margin of P. hancockanus is pure bright white. [2] It can grow up to 14 cm (5.5 inch) in length. [3]
Pseudobiceros hancockanus lives in warm seas, sometimes on coral reefs, other times among coral fragments or stones. [1] It has been observed near such places as Indonesia, Fiji, and Kenya. [4]
It is thought to feed on small invertebrates that live in sponges in coral reefs rather than eating the coral itself. [3]
Pseudobiceros hancockanus can travel long distances,[ specify ] swimming by undulating the edges of its body. [1]
Like other members of the genus Pseudobiceros , P. hancockanus is hermaphroditic with each individual able to function as either a male or female. Mating between two such worms involves penis fencing, as each worm tries to inject sperm into the other with one of its two stubby penises, while trying to avoid being inseminated itself. One explanation advanced for this behavior is that the female role entails more investment in the resulting fertilized eggs. [5] Another possible explanation is that the duel awards mating advantage to the better of two dueling partners—so that penis duel's loser, becoming the "female," is compensated by creating offspring with genes even better than hers. [6]
Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a water worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida. For a list of marine animals that have been called "sea worms", see sea worm.
Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, including within the same species. Common mating or reproductively motivated systems include monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, polygamy and promiscuity. Other sexual behaviour may be reproductively motivated or non-reproductively motivated.
The Polycladida represents a highly diverse clade of free-living marine flatworms. They are known from the littoral to the sublittoral zone, and many species are common from coral reefs. Only a few species are found in freshwater habitats.
Penis fencing is a mating behavior engaged in by many species of flatworm, such as Pseudobiceros hancockanus. Species which engage in the practice are hermaphroditic; each individual has both egg-producing ovaries and sperm-producing testes.
Pseudocerotidae is a family of flatworms which includes the Bedford's flatworm. Pseudocerotidae are simple organisms categorized by their oval bodies and tentacles and bright colors. They use the cilia to glide along surfaces. Most commonly referred to as marine flatworms, closely related to the orders Macrostomorpha and Lecithoepitheliata. These organisms have very complex reproductive systems, no blood systems or organs for gas exchange, a simple brain and are hermaphroditic.
Traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination, is the mating practice in some species of invertebrates in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his aedeagus and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal cavity (hemocoel). The sperm diffuses through the female's hemolymph, reaching the ovaries and resulting in fertilization.
Bispira brunnea, the social feather duster or cluster duster, is a species of marine bristleworm. They tend to live in groups of individuals, and are common off the Caribbean islands in southeast North America. The feather duster has one crown of various colors, however, the color of the crown seems to be consistent within individual colonies.
Pseudobiceros is a genus of flatworms. Like all flatworms, Pseudobiceros are hermaphrodites. This particular genus engages in penis fencing. When the "winner" touches its penis to the "skin" of the other, insemination occurs, and the "loser" has to bear the burden of motherhood.
A hermaphrodite is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are of different sexes, either male or female but not both, are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic.
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, to spawn refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water ; the physical act is known as spawning. The vast majority of non-mammalian, non-avian and non-reptilian aquatic and/or amphibious lifeforms reproduce through this process, including the:
The purple-lined wrasse, also known as the lavender wrasse, is a species of wrasse native to coral reefs of New Caledonia and Australia, where it can be found at depths from 20 to 55 m. This species can reach a total length of 12 cm (4.7 in). It can be found in the aquarium trade. As a member of the family Labridae, Cirrhilabrus lineatus displays hermaphroditic behavior where a female may become a male when it is biologically favorable to do so. Generally, this occurs when competition from larger males disappears.
Pseudoceros dimidiatus, the divided flatworm or tiger flatworm, is a species of flatworm in the genus Pseudoceros, belonging to the family Pseudocerotidae.
Pseudobiceros bedfordi is a species of flatworm in the family Pseudocerotidae.
The yellowhead wrasse is a fish species belonging to wrasse family native to shallow tropical waters in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.
Pseudoceros lindae, common name Linda's flatworm, is a marine Flatworm species that belongs to the Pseudocerotidae family.
Thysanozoon nigropapillosum is a species of polyclad flatworms belonging to the family Pseudocerotidae. Some common names include Gold-speckled flatworm, Marine flatworm, Yellow papillae flatworm, Yellow-spotted flatworm, and Yellow-spotted polyclad flatworm.
Halichoeres leucoxanthus, commonly called the canarytop wrasse, whitebelly wrasse, or lemon meringue wrasse, is a fish species in the wrasse family endemic to the Indian Ocean.
Macrostomum rostratum is a free-living, hermaphroditic flatworm in the family Macrostomidae, found in freshwater and brackish environments.
Waminoa brickneri is a newly discovered acoel species from the coral reefs near Eilat and the second described species in the genus.
Pseudobiceros fulgor, also known the lightning worm, is a species of marine flatworm from the family Pseudocerotidae and belongs to the class Turbellaria. These flatworms are commonly found in the tropics of the Indo-Pacific region. They can be found in shallow coral reef environments.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Pseudobiceros hancockanus (Collingwood, 1876) This is not nudibranch or sea slug.
Using new camera technology, Marine Biologist Leslie Newman of Australia's Southern Cross University participated in filming the marine flatworm Pseudobiceros hancockanus engaging in some odd reproductive behavior -- referred to as penis fencing.
Eberhard also points out the difficulty of untangling the interests of the sexual combatants. Is a dodging partner just filtering out lousy duelers?
