Tasmanoplana
Tasmanoplana is a genus of land planarians from Australia.
Tasmanoplana | |
---|---|
Tasmanoplana tasmaniana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
Order: | Tricladida |
Family: | Geoplanidae |
Tribe: | Caenoplanini |
Genus: | Tasmanoplana Winsor, 1991 |
Type species | |
Planaria tasmaniana Darwin, 1844 |
Description
Species of the genus Tasmanoplana are characterized by having an elongate, subcylindrical body that is flat ventrally. The creeping sole occupies more than two thirds of the body width. The eyes are small and arranged along the body margins in a single row from the anterior to the posterior end. The parenchymal musculature includes very strong and compact longitudinal fibers forming a ring around the intestine. The copulatory apparatus has a small penis papilla and a diverticulum ventral to the female atrium that opens into the copulatory canal.[1]
Etymology
The word Tasmanoplana is a combination of Tasmania, the island from which Charles Darwin collected the first specimen of the genus, and Latin plana, flat.[1]
Species
The genus Tasmoplana includes the following species:
- Tasmanoplana balfouri (von Graff, 1899)
- Tasmanoplana comitatis (Dendy, 1915)
- Tasmanoplana tasmaniana (Darwin, 1844)
References
- Winsor, L. (1991). "A provisional classification of Australian terrestrial geoplanid flatworms (Tricladida: Terricola: Geoplanidae)". Victorian Naturalist. 108 (2): 42–49. BHL