Dugesia sicula explained

Dugesia sicula is a species of dugesiid triclad that lives in freshwater bodies of the Mediterranean Basin, where it is widely distributed. It has been reported from Sicily, Elba and Mallorca,^[1] Eivissa,^[2] Sardinia,^[3] Algeria,^[4] Tunisia,^[5] Morocco^[6] and Crete.^[7]

Morphology

D. sicula individuals have an asymmetrical penis papilla, with a diaphragm at the base, separating the seminal vesicle from the ejaculatory duct. This duct is ventral and it opens subterminally. The seminal vesicle is wrapped by a thin layer of bulbar muscles. The penis papilla is weakly muscular and more parenchymatic.^[7]

Reproduction

D. sicula is known to reproduce sexual and asexually.^[8]

Phylogeny

D. sicula position in relation with other Dugesia species after the work of Lázaro et al., 2009:^[9]

External links

• D. sicula at the Encyclopedia of life
• D. sicula at the "Turbellarian taxonomic database"
• D. sicula at the NCBI database

Notes and References

1. Benazzi, M. (1961): "Les planaires des ïles tyrrhéniennes et leur differenciation raciale, cytologique et génétique". Le peuplement des ïles mediterranéennes et le problème de l'insularité, (ed. CNRS, Paris), pp. 103–112.
2. Ribas M., Pala M., Vacca R. A., Riutort M., Baguñà J. "Taxonomical status of the Western Mediterranean asexual populations of the Dugesia (D) gonocephala group: Morphological, Karyological and Biochemical data". Fortschr. Zool. 36: 129-137 (1988)
3. Stocchino et al., 2005 G.A. Stocchino, G. Corso, R. Manconi, S. Casu and M. Pala, "Endemic freshwater planarians of Sardinia: Redescription of Dugesia hepta (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) with a comparison of the Mediterranean species of the genus", Journal of Natural History 39 (2005), pp. 1947–1960.
4. Vries, E D. J. (1988). A synopsis of the nominal species of the subgenus Dugesia (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Paludicola) from Africa and Madagascar. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 92, 345–382.
5. Charni, M., Harrath, A. H., Sluys, R., Tekaya, S., and Zghal, F. (2004). "The freshwater planarian Dugesia sicula Lepori, 1948 (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) in Tunisia: ecology, karyology, and morphology". Hydrobiologia 517, 161–170.
6. Stocchino, G A., Manconi R., Corso G., Sluys R., Casu S., & Pala M., 2009. "African planarians: morphology and karyology of Dugesia maghrebiana sp. n. (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) from Tunisia". Italian Journal of Zoology; 76(1): 83-91
7. De Vries, EJ, 1988. "On the identity and occurrence of Dugesia sicula and D. biblica (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Paludicola) in the Mediterranean region". Fortschritte der Zoologie 36: 405–411.
8. Lepori, N.G., 1948. Descrizione di Dugesia sicula, nuova sp. di Triclade d'acqua dolce dei dintorni di Catania. Arch. Zool. Ital. 33: 461–472
9. Lazaro, E. M., Sluys, R., Pala, M., Stocchino, G. A., Baguna, J., & Riutort, M. (2009). "Molecular barcoding and phylogeography of sexual and asexual freshwater planarians of the genus Dugesia in the Western Mediterranean (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 52(3), 835–845.