Geoplana cananeia explained

Geoplana cananeia is a species of land planarian belonging to the subfamily Geoplaninae.[1] It is found in areas of the Atlantic Forest on Ilha do Cardoso within Cananéia, Brazil.

Description

Geoplana cananeia is a flatworm around 66 mm in length and 5 mm in width. The body has parallel margins; the front tip is rounded and the back tip is pointed. The dorsal side has a yellow-orange band running down the middle, which is flanked on each side by a black stripe, which merges at the back end. A white stripe borders this, which is in turn bordered by a black stripe that merges into a gray band mottled with white, which fades towards the outer margin. The margin is bordered by a thin black stripe. The ventral side is a whitish color with black margins.[2]

Along with its coloration, it can be distinguished from other members of Geoplana by a 1 mm anterior extension of the penis bulb from the penis papilla, stroma of the penis papilla that have necks of glands gathered in bundles that resemble an orange in cross-section, and a richly folded posterior-half wall of the female atrium.

Etymology

The specific epithet is derived from the municipality of Cananéia, where the species' type locality is located.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Geoplana cananeia 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.