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Family: Pseudocerotidae
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Bocas Species Database Habitat: Mangroves. Water column at 1.2 m depth. In Bocas del Toro, Rawlinson reported this species found in fouling community and reef habitats. Distribution: This species was found in Colombia, Belize and Panamá. Three juvenile specimens of this new species have been found at three different site locations in Bocas del Toro, Panama: Punta coco, Crawl Cay and Sunset Point. Natural History Notes: This new species was named after Raphael Ritson-Williams who provided the specimen. Thysanozoon raphaeli could possibly correspond to two other species of two different genera, Thysanozoon or Acanthozoon sp.4, because of the presence of various similarities (body shape, coloration). The main taxonomic difference between these two genera is the number of male gonopores (Thysanozoon = 2, Acanthozoon = 1). However, since the authorities that described Acanthozoon sp.4 did not mention the number of male gonopores, it is not possible at the moment to separate these species with certainty. Characteristics: It is a transparent animal with brown-blackish background with yellow papillae all over the dorsal surface. It also shows white slash-like marks that are hardly visible and located around the entire margin. The white marks outline darker black tentacles. The animal is translucent white ventrally. In addition to coloration, Thysanozoon raphaeli possesses one oval cerebral eyespot. Its body wall is made of a ciliated epithelium that surrounds the entire animal. It possesses two types of glands located in the ventral epidermis and in the epithelium covering the papillae: rhabdite glands and a second type of gland that secrete strongly acidophilic secretions. |