Gusana (flatworm) explained

Gusana is a genus of land planarians found in Chile.

Description

Gusana was defined as land planarians with a broad, leaf-like body that tapers very abruptly anteriorly, giving it a triangular anterior end. The cutaneous musculature, both ventrally and dorsally, is partially sunk into the mesenchyma. The sensory border forms a thick edge around the ventral margin of the anterior end and the sensory pits are internally branched, differently from what occurs in most Neotropical land planarians. The copulatory apparatus has a small intra-antral penis papilla and the female canal enters the genital antrum ventrally.[1]

Species

The genus Gusana currently includes seven species:[2]

Notes and References

  1. Ogren . Robert E. . Kawakatsu . Masaharu . Index to the species of the family Geoplanidae (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Terricola) Part I: Geoplaninae . The Bulletin of Fuji Women's College . Series 2 . 28 . 1990 . 79–166 .
  2. Almeida . Ana Laura . Álvarez-Presas . Marta . Bolonhezi . Laura . Carbayo . Fernando . Integrative taxonomy increases biodiversity knowledge of Gusana (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Geoplanidae) with the description of four new Chilean species . Invertebrate Systematics . 2022 . 36 . 6 . 533 . 1445-5226 . 10.1071/IS21066 .