''Cura fortis'' is a species of freshwater

planarian Planarians (triclads) are free-living flatworms of the class Turbellaria, order Tricladida, which includes hundreds of species, found in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial habitats.pp 3., "Planarians (the popular name for the group as a whole ...

belonging to the family

Dugesiidae Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater planarians distributed worldwide (except Antarctica). The type genus is ''Dugesia ''Dugesia'' is a genus of freshwater planarians in the family Dugesiidae triclads and the type genus of this family. Thes ...

. It is found in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Etymology

The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

is derived from 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 ...

, meaning "firm". This is in reference to the species' large penial papilla.Sluys, R, & Kawakatsu, Masaharu. (2001)
Contribution to an inventory of the freshwater planarians of Australia and New Zealand (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)
with distribution maps of the species examined. ''Beaufortia'', ''51''(10), 163–198.

Description

''Cura fortis'' is about eight millimeters long and 3.5 mm wide. It can range from a dark brown to reddish color on its backside, and its underside is a dark grey with black spots. Its eyes are set in unpigmented patches.

References

Animals described in 2001 Dugesiidae Worms of New Zealand {{Flatworm-stub