Geoplana apua explained

Geoplana apua is a species of land planarian belonging to the subfamily Geoplaninae.[1] It is found in areas within the Atlantic Forest in the municipalities of Nova Iguaçu and Teresópolis, Brazil.

Description

Geoplana apua is a flatworm around 45 mm in length. The body has parallel margins; the front tip is rounded and the back tip is pointed. The dorsal side has a luminous orange band running down the middle, flanked on each side by a black stripe; the black stripe is bordered on the outside by a greenish-yellow stripe, which is bordered by a black band. The ventral side is a pale orange color.[2]

Aside from its coloration, it is distinguished from other members of Geoplana by having two-layered musculature of the inner pharynx, a developed anteroventral region of the penis bulb, and a penis papilla with the dorsal insertion displaced anteriorly and very ventrally, as long as 18 times its diameter.

Etymology

The specific epithet, apua, is derived from a Tupi language word meaning "mound", in reference to the hills where type specimens were collected.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Geoplana apua Ana Laura Almeida, Fernando P.L.Marques & Fernando Carbayo, 2019 . 2023-07-22 . www.gbif.org . en.
  2. Ana Laura Almeida and others, ‘Endless forms most beautiful’: taxonomic revision of the planarian Geoplana vaginuloides (Darwin, 1844) and discovery of numerous congeners (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 185, Issue 1, January 2019, Pages 1–65.