''Cephaloflexa'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
land planarian
Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms.
These flatworms are mainly predators of other invertebrates, which they hunt, attack and capture using physical force and the adhesive and digestive proper ...
s from Brazil.
Description
The genus ''Cephaloflexa'' is characterized by the presence of a cephalic retractor muscle not associated with cephalic glands. Due to this muscle, the head in species of ''Cephaloflexa'' is rolled upwards or backwards similarly to ''
Choeradoplana''.
[Carbayo, F.; Leal-Zanchet, A. M. (2003). ''Two new genera of geoplaninid land planarians (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Terricola) of Brazil in the light of cephalic specialisations.'' Invertebrate Systematics. 17: 449-468.] The main external feature to distinguish ''Cephaloflexa'' from ''Choeradoplana'' is the presence of two “cushions” on the ventral side of the head of the latter.
The
copulatory apparatus of ''Cephaloflexa'' lacks a permanent penis papilla.
Etymology
The name ''Cephaloflexa'' comes from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
word ''κεφαλή'' (head) and the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word ''flexus'' (bending).
Species
There are three described species in the genus ''Cephaloflexa'':
*''
Cephaloflexa araucariana''
Carbayo & Leal-Zanchet, 2003
*''
Cephaloflexa bergi''
(Graff, 1899)
*''
Cephaloflexa nataliae''
(Froehlich, 1959)
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18345149
Geoplanidae
Rhabditophora genera