AEFW— the dreadedacreating flatworm has been a nuisance for hobbyists for years and has just gotten a new name thanks to a research team led by Dr. Kate Rawlinson from University College London.amakusaplana acroporae是新描述的官方名称，并命名为Polyclad Flatn Nort，并发表了有关其开发和生命历史的物种描述和信息in the latest issue of the journal珊瑚礁这是关于此特定扁虫的首个研究。我们首先谈到this study两年前，当它作为埃里克·伯恩曼（Eric Borneman）和多克拉德（Polyclad）专家罗林森（Rawlinson）博士之间的想法开始。
不幸的是，我们当中有AEFW侵扰的人知道这些小动物可以迅速再现并破坏整个珊瑚殖民地。小组研究了AEFW，并通过观察和rDNA研究发现了AEFWS属于家庭Prosthiostomidae和以前单特异性属amakusaplana。通过将扁虫与以前唯一的属成员进行比较，amakusaplanaohshimai, enough differentiation was described to justify the classification.
The research was a combined effort of three universities, University College London and Cambridge University in the UK and University of Houston in the US. Specimens were collected from one of the author’s personal tanks in Virginia as well as adult specimens from Atlantis Marine World in Long Island, NY. The team had an open call to hobbyists to share sightings of AEFW in both aquariums and in nature to finish the research.
These coral predators are hard to detect since they camouflage themselves against the host coral quite well due to the ingestion of coral tissue and zooxanthellae in their gut and were observed in sizes up to 17mm long and 10mm wide. Interestingly, the embryonic development of the AEFW is around 21 days with all egg batches observed found on bare coral skeleton as opposed to live tissue. Although they do not know exactly how many egg batches an adult will lay in its lifetime, they did find the number of egg capsules per batch ranged from 20–26 with 3-7 embryos in each capsule.
对于那些对此突破信息感兴趣的人，整篇文章只能通过subscription or online purchase但这是摘要：
在水族馆进行培养和保护尖锐的珊瑚的努力导致发现了一个珊瑚虫多clodlclad laind虫（称为AEFW - 饱食acropora的扁虫），如果没有去除，则可以吃整个殖民地。对AEFW，整个坐骑，串行组织学部分的实时观察以及28S rDNA序列与其他多clads的比较表明，这是一种属于家族假体（Lang，1884年）和以前单身特异性属的新物种（Kato 1938）。Amakusaplana croporae与Amakusaplana Ohshimai区分开了不同的眼睛，一个大的囊泡和背侧压缩的壳腺袋。典型的属，A。Acroporae缺少腹侧吸盘，在前缘的中线有一个小缺口。线虫囊和共生菌Sp。来自珊瑚的鞭毛藻大量分布在肠道和实质中。个别成年人在珊瑚骨架上放置多个卵批，每个卵批有20-26个卵胶囊，每个胶囊包含3-7个胚胎。胚胎发育大约需要21天，在此期间出现了上层生命阶段（叶和睫状簇）的时间特征，但在孵化前会丢失。孵化的能力可以游泳，但很快就会定居于底栖动物，并且在此阶段没有观察到动物。我们建议囊内的变形限制了孵化的分散潜力，并促进后代募集到出生栖息地。 The evolutionary and ecological significance of retaining lobes and ciliary tufts in the embryo are discussed. Camouflage, high fecundity and possible dispersal dimorphisms probably explain how Amakusaplana acroporae can cause Acropora sp. mortality in aquaria where natural predators may be absent.
Great work by Dr. Rawlinson, Mr. Borneman and her team. It is great to have more detailed information on this coral predator and is another notch in the belt for the reefing hobby helping to bring about new scientific research and information on the World’s wild reefs. Thanks to Dustin and the crew at ORA for sending this information our way.
