Geoplana pulchella is a species of land planarian belonging to the subfamily Geoplaninae.[1] It is found in areas of the Atlantic Forest within the state of Santa Catarina, such as in Blumenau, Paulo Lopes, and Alfredo Wagner, in Brazil.[2]

Geoplana pulchella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Order: Tricladida
Family: Geoplanidae
Genus: Geoplana
Species:
G. pulchella
Binomial name
Geoplana pulchella
Müller, 1856

Description

edit

Geoplana pulchella is a flatworm around 30 mm in length and 3 mm in width. The body is elongate and has parallel margins; the front tip is rounded and the back tip is pointed. The front third of the dorsal side of the body is a pure orange color, while the rest of the dorsal side has a light grey band running down the middle, flanked on each side by a black band. The entire dorsal side is speckled with white. The front third of the ventral side is a traffic white color, while the rest is squirrel grey.[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, papilla with a length 7–9 times its diameter with a thin tip, and a conspicuous circular muscle fibre mass around the posterior female atrium.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Geoplana pulchella Müller, 1856". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  2. ^ a b c 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. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly022