Polycladus

Polycladus
Polycladus gayi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Order: Tricladida
Family: Geoplanidae
Genus: Polycladus
Species:
P. gayi
Binomial name
Polycladus gayi
Blanchard, 1847
Synonyms

Geoplana gayi Schultze & Müller, 1857

Polycladus is a genus of land planarians from South America, currently comprising a single species, Polycladus gayi, which occurs in the Valdivian Forest, Chile.

Description

Polycladus is a very understudied genus of land planarians. It was defined as land planarians with a wide, flat and leaf-like body, having the entire ventral surface ciliated and with mouth and gonopore posteriorly shifted in relation to other land planarians. The copulatory apparatus has a well-developed permanent penis and the female canal enters the genital antrum ventrally.[1] This definition, however, is incomplete regarding all anatomical structures currently considered in the definition of planarian genera.[2]

In 2023, Polycladus was discovered preying on a black snail, Macrocyclis peruvianus, in the wild.[3]

Etymology

The name Polycladus comes from Greek πολύ (many) + κλάδος (branch), referring to the branched intestine. Despite the name, Polycladus is not a species of the flatworm order Polycladida, but rather of Tricladida.

The specific epithet of the type-species, gayi, commemorates French naturalist Claude Gay.[4]

References

  1. ^ Ogren, R. E. and Kawakatsu, M. (1990). Index to the species of the family Geoplanidae (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Terricola) Part I: Geoplaninae. Bulletin of Fujis Women's College. 29: 79-166.
  2. ^ Carbayo, F.; Álvarez-Presas, M.; Olivares, C. U. T.; Marques, F. P. L.; Froehlich, E. X. M.; Riutort, M. (2013). "Molecular phylogeny of Geoplaninae (Platyhelminthes) challenges current classification: Proposal of taxonomic actions". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (5): 508. doi:10.1111/zsc.12019.
  3. ^ Boll, Piter K., Yerko Lloncón, and Diego Almendras. “Records of the Land Planarian Polycladus Gayi (Tricladida, Geoplanidae) Preying on Black Snails Macrocyclis Peruvianus (Gastropoda, Macrocyclidae).” Austral ecology 48.8 (2023): 2239–2245. Web.
  4. ^ Blanchard, Émile (1847). "Recherches sur l'organisation des vers". Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie. 3e série. 8: 119–149. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51506. hdl:2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t8gf1q10b. Open access icon