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Issue: Vol. 3182 No. 1: 3 Feb. 2012
Type: Articles
Published: 2012-02-03
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3182.1.1
Page range: 1–15
Abstract views: 117
PDF downloaded: 3

Freshwater planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) from the Palearctic section of the African continent: new records, with the description of a new species

Zoology Department College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia Research unit Animal Reproduction and Developmental Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, 2092 Manar II, Tunisia
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam & Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis (section ZMA), P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Université Larbi Ben M'Hidi, Oum-El-Bouaghi, Algeria
Faculty of Science, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco
Zoology Department College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio) i Dpt. de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona
Platyhelminthes Tricladida Dugesia tubqalis Dugesia sicula Polycelis felina Polycelis nigra Schmidtea polychroa North Africa

Abstract

On the basis of extensive surveys, an update is provided on the diversity, taxonomy, anatomy, and geographic distributionof five species of North African freshwater planarians, including the description of one new species. The new species Dug-esia tubqalis Harrath & Sluys, sp. nov. is mainly characterized by the following features: an elongated penis surroundedwith two penial folds at its base, the dorsal one bigger than the ventral ; an atrium divided into a male and common atriumby a kind of non-muscular ridge; a terminal expansion of the ejaculatory duct just before it opens at the tip of the penispapilla. The record of Dugesia sicula represents the first fully documented record of a naturally sexual, diploid (2n=18)population in North Africa. The first finding of Polycelis nigra on the African continent is documented. The genus Polyce-lis is recorded here with two species, Polycelis nigra and Polycelis felina. We also noted the presence of Schmidtea polychroa, which is widespread in Europe and introduced in North America.

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