Phrikoceros nocturnus (Newman & Cannon, 1996)
1st photo: Scott Johnson, Puako, Hawai`i. Size: 40mm
2nd photo: Scott Johnson, Pupukea, O`ahu. Size: 32mm
3rd photo: Tina Owens, Kona, Hawai`i.
4th photo: Leslie Newman & Andrew Flowers, Great Barrier Reef?

ID from Newman & Cannon CD, where this species is listed as Tytthosoceros nocturnus. However, the genus Tytthosoceros has since been subsumed under the genus Phrikoceros. On the CD, Scott Johnson's photo immediately below is primary photo. The original 1996 description reads: "Velvety black or dark brown (sometimes with a red tinge), no markings. Pseudotentacles with white or grey tips. ... Raised medially (not flat)"  The pseudotentacles are described as small and earlike.

Why Newman chose an animal with white spots for the primary photo is puzzling, as she states that there are "no markings". 2nd photo (also by Scott Johnson) shows fewer spots; the required pale tentacle tips are faintly visible at lower right. 3rd photo by Tina Owens has spots. Bottom photo, by Newman and Flowers, appears on the CD and on various websites. I include it here to show a specimen with no markings that conforms more closely to the actual description. Note the small, forward-pointing pseudotentacles. It is possible that the Hawai`i worms are actually a closely related species. A photograph by Erwin Kohler of a worm from the Philippines seems similar to the Hawai`i worms. Note that the pseudotentacles do not appear particularly small and earlike.

The all-dark Pseudoceros cf bolool is similar but has large triangular pseudotentacles with no white markings on them. Newman & Cannon write: "... easily confused with Pseudoceros bolool Newman & Cannon,
1994a which is also evenly black and possesses one male pore. However, Tytthosoceros nocturnus is raised medially (not flat), has white tips on its ear-like pseudotentacles." Original 1996 description of T. nocturnus is here.

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