Polycladus | |
---|---|
Polycladus gayi | |
Scientific 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.
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]
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]
Polycladus | |
---|---|
Polycladus gayi | |
Scientific 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.
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]
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]