Tasmanoplana Explained

Tasmanoplana is a genus of land planarians from Australia.

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.

Species

The genus Tasmoplana includes the following species:

Notes and References

  1. A provisional classification of Australian terrestrial geoplanid flatworms (Tricladida: Terricola: Geoplanidae). Victorian Naturalist. 108. 2. 42–49. 1991. Winsor . L. . BHL