• The Acropora-eating flatworm has a name - Amakusaplana acroporae!

    On Friday, I received an email from Kate Rawlinson with the exciting news that the AEFW finally has a name.


    The Acropora-eating flatworm has a name - Amakusaplana acroporae!
    A species description and information on its development and life history
    has just been published in the journal 'Coral Reefs' - the paper is attached.
    Thank you very much for your help with providing material and information
    on this animal, and for your interest.
    We hope to continue working on this polyclad so we may be in touch again
    in the future.

    With best wishes,
    Kate


    When I read the attached 13 page PDF file, I was fascinated by the structure and research that was poured into identifying this tiny and most aggravating pest. Anyone that has kept SPS corals in the past five years has either heard of these or suffered their destructive nature.



    Immediately I requested if I could share this information with everyone on ReefAddicts, and the response was a resounding yes, but not to post the PDF file since it is published on the Coral Reefs website - which is subscription based. If you would like to get the full paper, please email Kate directly. I would suggest you put AEFW PDF in the subject line. k.rawlinson@dal.ca

    Included above are two of the many images in the published article. The paper lists the following names under the title: K. A. Rawlinson • J. A. Gillis • R. E. Billings Jr. • E. H. Borneman. It was a group effort.

    The scientific detail was slightly overwhelming, but quite informative. At the time of this publishing, Amakusaplana acroporae have only been discovered exclusively in aquaria. These flatworms do have sexual reproductive parts, which sounds a little funny to this hobbyist. Obviously they increase in population in our tanks as eggs have been seen on various corals, but still you don't liken flatworms to bunnies usually. They have numerous eyes, something I didn't know. Around 32 of them, plus or minus 3.

    Now that we know more about what makes these little guys tick, our next goal is to determine what will consume them. In the meantime, as always it is best to dip and inspect your corals for pests to avoid infesting your reef tank with Amakusaplana acroporae, among other things.

    Additional Reading added 8/2/2012: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.php/356-AEFW-have-been-discovered-in-the-wild-off-Australia