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Vol. 54, 2015
A new species of Notogynaphallia
(Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae) extends the known distribution of land
planarians in Chacoan province (Chacoan subregion), South America
Lisandro Negrete1,2, Ana Maria Leal-Zanchet3 and Francisco Brusa1,2*
1División
Zoología Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo,
Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Boulevard 120 and 61, La Plata,
Argentina
2Instituto de Pesquisas de Planárias, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, 93022-000 São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
3Instituto de Pesquisas de Planárias and Programa de
Pós-Graduação em Biologia, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos,
93022-000 São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Abstract
Background: The
subfamily Geoplaninae (Geoplanidae) includes land planarian species of
the Neotropical Region. In Argentina, the knowledge about land
planarian diversity is still incipient, although this has recently
increasedmainly in the Atlantic Forest ecosystem. However, other regions like Chacoan forests remain virtually unexplored.
Results: In this paper, we describe a new species of the genus Notogynaphallia
of the Chacoan subregion. This species is characterized by a black
pigmentation on the dorsum and a dark grey ventral surface. The eyes
with clear halos extend to the dorsal surface. The pharynx is
cylindrical. The main features of the reproductive system involve
testes anterior to the ovaries, prostatic vesicle intrabulbar (with a
tubular proximal portion and a globose distal portion) opening broadly
in a richly folded male atrium, common glandular ovovitelline duct and
female genitalcanal dorso-anteriorly flexed constituting a “C”, female atrium tubular proximally and widening distally.
Conclusions: This is the first report of the genus Notogynaphallia
in Argentina (Chacoan subregion, Neotropical Region) which increases
its geographic distribution in South America. Also, as a consequence of
features observedin species of the genus, we propose an emendation of the generic diagnosis.
Key words: Land flatworms; Notogynaphallia; Geoplaninae; Argentina; Chacoan subregion; Neotropical Region.
*Correspondence: E-mail: fbrusa@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar
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