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Animal profile

Marine Flatworm

Pseudoceros dimidiatus

RhabditophoraCoral reef surfaces, rubble and overhangs in shallow tropical water

Field profile

Pseudoceros dimidiatus is a boldly striped polyclad flatworm that glides over reef surfaces on a carpet of cilia. Its body is leaf-thin and unsegmented, with no body cavity, no blood system and a branching gut. Bright patterning is thought to advertise unpalatability.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-12-17

Marine Flatworm

Sea slugs copy the colours of toxic flatworms

Several Indo-Pacific nudibranchs share almost identical bold striping with polyclad flatworms living on the same reefs. The convergence is generally read as mimicry among species that predators have learned to avoid.

Read with evidence →

Marine Flatworm | Daily Animal Facts