POLYCLAD FLATWORMS — ^HYMAN 567 



(1913) and Kato (1943). The present specimen (USNM 28650)^ 

 was found swimming near the reef at Ifakik Atoll, Aug. 12, 1953. 

 Alive it was stated to be at least 100 mm. long, hence is the largest 

 on record; preserved it measured 35 by 36 mm., having contracted 

 strongly to a rounded shape whereas the natural shape is an elongated 

 oval. This species was reported by Kato (1943) from the Palau 

 Islands where it was stated to be common although surprisingly not 

 recovered in the present material from these islands. It is also re- 

 corded from Singapore, the Philippines, and Heron Island in the 

 Great Barrier Reef and is evidently widely spread in the western 

 tropical and subtropical Pacific. 



Pseudoceros izuensis Kato, 1944 



Figure 7a-c 



Remarks: One specimen was taken on a reef in the Palau Islands 

 by the Stanford team, Aug. 8, 1955, Sta. 69, lagoon margin of reef 

 southeast of Malakal Pass. As the original description is brief, an 

 expanded account of the present specimen appears desirable, espe- 

 cially as there is some slight doubt of its identity with Kato's species. 



The preserved specimen (USNM 28651) measures 22 by 16 mm. 

 and is of broadly oval shape and thin consistency (fig. 7a). Kato 

 gave the length, preserved, as 20 by 13 mm., but 60 by 28 in life. 

 The tentacles as sketched by Bayer in life appear in figure 76; their 

 appearance in the preserved animal is shown in figure 7c. The 

 ruflied pharynx had ruptured through the ventral surface. The 

 color in life as described by F. M. Bayer, who also took a color 

 photograph, was pale green above mottled \vith white and dotted 

 with black dots, with a median ridge of sepia brown laced with white. 

 The tentacles in life (fig. 76) are sepia brown with white tips and white 

 spots. The body is encircled by a marginal band of olive green 

 composed of radial streaks. Preserved, the animal appears light 

 gray dotted with black dots with a dark margin and a dark middorsal 

 band laced with white. The radial streaks composing the marginal 

 band are stiU detectable in the preserved specimen. Figure 7a 

 attempts to depict the color pattern. The colois agree well with 

 Kato's description except for the tentacles which he described as 

 purplish and the absence of black at the extreme outer margin. 



Behind the tentacles is seen the bilobed cluster of cerebral eyes 

 (fig. 7c). This disagrees with Kato's statement that the eyes form a 

 single cluster although his figure indicates a slight bilobulation. 

 Kato figured the tentacular eyes, not well discernible in the present 

 specimen. 



> A photograph, in color, of this specimen was published in National Geographic Magazine, vol. 109, No. 4, 

 p. 657, April 1956. 



