January-April, 2013 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 31 Nos. 5-6 
He also discussed preservation effects, and touched on the differences in techniques employed by 
research/academia-based experts vs local morphological-based taxonomists. 
Tony mentioned that in researching for this presentation he saw several new and additional 
specimens at MBC that Carol Paquette had in her collection. 
He started by discussing the two Suborders of Polycladida - the Cotyleans which have ventral 
suckers and head tentacles, although there are some species without head tentacles. Additionally 
they have a ruffled pharynx anteriorly, or a tubular pharynx. 
In contrast, the Acotyleans have a ruffled pharynx mid-body to posterior, except in the 
Superfamily of Enantiidea, which have a tubular pharynx and spines on the dorsum. 
After his overview he lead a species by species review of the two major groups and it is 
summarized below. 
Acotvlea 
Enantiidae sp A - cuticular spines present along margin and dorsum of body, tubular pharynx, 
tentacles absent. This is the first record of the family from the west coast of North America. It has 
only been found on the legs of the offshore oil platforms Edith (Huntington Beach) and Grace 
(Ventura). Specimens have been sent to John Holleman for description. 
Koinostylochus burchami - large animal; note the gap between the cerebral and tentacular eyes 
which are deep within the tissue; has elongate, rounded nuchal tentacles; eyes not present within 
nuchal tentacles; tentacular eyes form dense ring around base of nuchal tentacles; cerebral eyes 
between nuchal tentacles in two rows with distinct gap in center; differs from Paraplanocera in 
its large, robust size. 
Paraplanocera oligoglena - very thin species; has elongate, rounded nuchal tentacles; eyes 
not present within nuchal tentacles; tentacular eyes in loose groupings around base of nuchal 
tentacles, with eyes spreading out from bases; cerebral eys between nuchal tentacles in two 
elongate rows, no gap in middle. 
Latoplana levis - large, thick species; has a large fan of frontal eyes; marginal eyes encircle body, 
thickest anteriorly; inter-tidal, sub-tidal, and rocky substrate. 
Eatocestidae sp A - single row of minute eyes along one-quarter to one-half of the anterior 
margin; frontal eyes present in four elongate lines that form a “W” pattern. 
Diplehnia caeca (see synonomies) - eyes few to absent; if present, are in two loose cerebral 
clusters composed of 10-25 very small eyes. 
Stylochus atentaculatus - anomalous species which grows up to 60 mm; nuchal tentacles in 
specimens to 13 mm, but they are lost afterwards; marginal eyes are densely packed anteriorly, 
thinning posteriorly; cerebral eyes in broad, poorly separated groups; dorsum buff to light brown, 
with dark brown spots; not usually collected in Van-Veen grab samples. 
Stylochus exiguus - some specimens are without spots on the dorsum, although most do have 
a maculated pigment pattern; tentacular eyes present within tentacles; note 2 pairs of paired 
eyes (4 pairs, 8 total) anterior to the cerebral tentacles; these are of particular use when viewing 
specimens without spots; also of note are the marginal eyes that encircle the entire body. 
Publication Date: 28 July 2016 
