Where Does this Pretty Creature Dwell?

Racing stripe flatworms are mostly found in the west of the Pacific Ocean. They can also be found along the cracks and slopes of reefs and corals and then under rocks or in between any crease they manage to find. There are many coral reefs that these organisms can be found. One area that they can be found is in Queensland, Australia, about 15-20 meters below the water's surface. Pseudoceros  bifurcus can only be found in marine habitats because of their body morphology. They have successfully adapted to sea life and could not live on land where they could possibly dry out (Seifarth, 2002).

Figure 1. Pseudoceros bifrucrus, taken by Leslie Newman, © Litvaitis, Marian

These creatures fall prey to a lot of their other marine animal habitants such as Chinook Salmon, Dungeness crabs and even other amphibians due to their soft and fragile body structures and slow movements (Ward, 2005). These flatworms have also evolved mechanisms to protect themselves due to heavy predation. The Pseudoceros bifurcus is brightly colored so that it can mimic other organisms that are actually poisonous but these flatworms are not. This can also be known as batesian mimicry.

Click here to find out about how Pseudoceros bicurus has adapted

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