Biodiversity & Conservation

Candy striped flatworm - Prostheceraeus vittatus

Prostheceraeus vittatus

Image Sue Scott - The candy striped flatworm Prostheceraeus vittatus. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Prostheceraeus vittatus recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Prostheceraeus vittatus is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Platyhelminthes Flatworms
Class Turbellaria
Authority (Montagu, 1813)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Found in the North Sea, English Channel and Atlantic coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Under stones on mud in the low intertidal and shallow subtidal. Has been observed by SCUBA crawling on sand in Plymouth Sound and off Dinas Head, Pembrokeshire (pers. obs.).
Text page icon Description Prostheceraeus vittatus is such a striking flatworm that it cannot be confused with any other. It may be mistakenly be identified as a sea slug due to the anterior tentacles and bright colouration. However, Prostheceraeus vittatus has none of the dorsal processes of the sea slugs, it is extremely thin (dorso-ventrally flattened) and the tentacles are formed by folds of tissue at the margin of the body. These features distinguish it from sea slugs. Prostheceraeus vittatus has a yellow-white or cream body with numerous dark longitudinal stripes. It crawls along the seabed using cilia and may swim by sinuous movements of the body.
Identifying features
  • A worm with clear cephalization.
  • Body dorso-ventrally flattened and lacks segmentation.
  • Yellow-white body with many dark longitudinal stripes.
  • Anterior end bears marginal tentacles.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal 2008. Prostheceraeus vittatus. Candy striped flatworm. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 31/07/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4209>