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worms > Phylum Platyhelminthes > Class Turbellaria > Order Polycladida
Vermilion flatworm
Phrikoceros baibaiye
Family Pseudocerotidae
updated Feb 2020

Where seen? This small brightly coloured flatworm is sometimes seen on coral rubble on some of our shores: mainly Chek Jawa and Cyrene Reef. More active at night, but sometimes seen moving about during the day. Usually, many individuals are seen, and then not seen again for a long time.

Features: 3-4cm long. The small flatworm is plain red or orange (also described elsewhere as orange-brown or rusty) with tiny white dots all over the upper surface (underside uniformly plain without dots). The body margin is often highly ruffled and has no coloured margin. It has a pair of pseudotentacles that are squarish and ruffled on the sides, with white tips. There is a short white line at the head. The mouth appears to the near the centre of the underside of the body.

Little flatworms are active and fast moving, often ruffling out from one crevice to another among coral rubble. They may even swim for a short distance with vigorous ripples of their body edges. When they are in season, some may be seen stranded on sand. Please watch your step!

Cyrene Reef, Jun 10

Pulau Sekudu, Jul 05

Pseudotentacles are squarish, ruffled on the sides, with white tips.

Vermilion flatworms on Singapore shores
On wildsingapore flickr

Other sightings on Singapore shores


Chek Jawa, Oct 10
Photo shared by Neo Mei Lin on her blog.

Chek Jawa, Jan 14
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on his blog.


Cyrene Reef, Feb 16
Photo shared by Lok Kok Sheng on his blog.

Cyrene Reef, Aug 12
Photo shared by Lok Kok Sheng on his blog.


Cyrene Reef, Aug 18*
Photo shared by Jonathan Tan on facebook.

Cyrene Reef, Aug 18
Photo shared by Marcus Ng on facebook.


Cyrene Reef, Aug 18
Photo shared by Abel Yeo on facebook.

Cyrene Reef, Jun 20
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook.

Cyrene Reef, Sep 20
Photo shared by Jianlin Liu on facebook.


Pulau Semakau, Aug 11
Photo shared by Lok Kok Sheng on his blog.

Pulau Semakau, Aug 10
Photo shared by Neo Mei Lin on her blog.

Pulau Semakau, Aug 10, shared by Marcus Ng
MVI_3682

Acknowledgements
Grateful thanks to Rene Ong for sharing details and identifying the flatworms on this page.

Links

  • Phrikoceros baibaiye on Encyclopedia of Life, LifeDesks, Marine Flatworms - Polycladida: Technical fact sheet.

References

  • Rene S.L. Ong and Samantha J.W. Tong. 29 October 2018. A preliminary checklist and photographic catalogue of polyclad flatworms recorded from Singapore. Nature in Singapore 2018 11: 77–125
  • D. M. Bolaños, B. Q. Gan & R. S. L. Ong. 29 Jun 2016. First records of pseudocerotid flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Cotylea) from Singapore: A taxonomic report with remarks on colour variation.(pdf) The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement No. 34: 130-169  Pp. 130-169.
  • Newman, Leslie and Lester Cannon. 2003. Marine Flatworms: The World of Polyclads. CSIRO Publishing. 97pp.
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