Geoplana apua

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Geoplana apua
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Order: Tricladida
Family: Geoplanidae
Genus: Geoplana
Species:
G. apua
Binomial name
Geoplana apua
Ana Laura Almeida, Fernando P.L.Marques & Fernando Carbayo, 2019

Geoplana apua is a species of land planarian belonging to the subfamily Geoplaninae.[1] It is found in areas within the Atlantic Forest in the municipalities of Nova Iguaçu and Teresópolis, Brazil.[2]

Description[edit]

Geoplana apua is a flatworm around 45 mm in length. The body has parallel margins; the front tip is rounded and the back tip is pointed. The dorsal side has a luminous orange band running down the middle, flanked on each side by a black stripe; the black stripe is bordered on the outside by a greenish-yellow stripe, which is bordered by a black band. The ventral side is a pale orange color.[2]

Aside from its coloration, it is distinguished from other members of Geoplana by having two-layered musculature of the inner pharynx, a developed anteroventral region of the penis bulb, and a penis papilla with the dorsal insertion displaced anteriorly and very ventrally, as long as 18 times its diameter.[2]

Etymology[edit]

The specific epithet, apua, is derived from a Tupi language word meaning "mound", in reference to the hills where type specimens were collected.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Geoplana apua Ana Laura Almeida, Fernando P.L.Marques & Fernando Carbayo, 2019". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  2. ^ a b c d 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