Two new Pseudoceros (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Pseudocerotidae) from Agatti Island, India and a species checklist from Indian waters

Abstract

The Lakshadweep archipelago constitutes a major coral region of India but still lacks sufficient biodiversity data owing to its remoteness and a low number of faunal studies in the past. The present paper describes two new Pseudoceros species collected from Agatti Island, Lakshadweep, India. Pseudoceros bipurpurea sp. nov. and Pseudoceros galaxea sp. nov. are described based on external and internal characters, supported with histological studies and photographs. Pseudoceros bipurpurea sp. nov. is characterized by a cream background colour and an orange median line surrounded by dense patches of purple spots, which tend to disperse and broaden towards the posterior end. Pseudoceros galaxea sp. nov. displays a brown background colour with numerous white to cream dots covering almost the entire dorsal surface and a thin black margin. This study adds two new species to the polyclad fauna in Indian waters, raising the count to 68 species. An updated checklist of polyclads from Indian coast is also provided.

Marine journals, maritime territorial disputes and science-diplomacy

“…The fact is that marine biology is a global discipline with research undertaken in a highly interconnected environment and where a larger geographic context is often vital for understanding. In this issue of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association (JMBA), research ranges in geographic extent from the south-eastern Pacific (Estupiñan-Montaño et al, 2021); south-western Pacific (Gordon, 2021); south-western Atlantic (Delpiani et al, 2021); NE Mediterranean (Seyhan Öztürk et al, 2021); the southern Adriatic (Mandic et al, 2021); the Aegean Sea (Cinar & Dagli, 2021); the Arabian sea (Dixit et al, 2021); the Indian Ocean (David et al, 2021); the South China Sea (Marshall & Taha, 2021); the Sea of Japan (Fujiwara et al, 2021) and many others. As is usual for marine journals, many of these papers have authors from multiple countries since marine biology is a discipline that works best when carried out in a collaborative manner, working across national and global boundaries, bringing in multiple disciplines and sharing data and expertise freely.…”