Description of a Turbellarian worm Riedlia agyptica, Nov. Gen. Nov. Sp. (Family-Goharidae)‎-from the shallow water of the Red Sea

Abstract EN

Th irt y specimens of this worm wer e coll ect ed in May and Jul y 19H7 from a sha llow lagoon at Gha rda ga and North of Jeddah (Red Sea).

Th ey were found living around the brown a lgae.

Sargassum vulgare, Cystoccira myri ca and Turb inaria decuneus.

The worm is charact erised by the possessi on of a well-de veloped sen se or gan which has IH20 retractor muscle fibres, It is oval in shape and has a greeni sh brown color atio n du e to the presence of symhi otic brown a lgae (Zooxanthe llae ).

It is ab out O.H-I.OO mm in len gth ami 0,3· 0.4 mrn in breadth.

Th e wor m does not have e ithe r eyes or phar ynx .

The female reproductive system ha s no go no pore a nd it is form ed of a well-d evelop ed bursa semina lis connected to a cuti cul ariscd bursa mouthpiece direc ted ventra lly.

two left a nd right ovaries are present.

The malc reproductiv e sys tem co nsists of a sho rt cuticula rised peni s .

a vesicula granulorum, two false seminal vesicles and two right a nd left te stes ,