''Difroehlichia'' 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 ...

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 South America, currently comprising a single species, ''Difroehlichia elenae'', which was found in a ferruginous cave in the municipality of

Conceição do Mato Dentro Conceição do Mato Dentro is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the Mesoregion (Brazil), mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the Microregion (Brazil), microregion of Conceição do Ma ...

, state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, Brazil, which is part of the

Cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

biome.

Description

''Difroehlichia elenae'' is a small and slender land planarian. The only specimen known to the present measured 13.5 mm in length and 1.5 in width. It is distinguished from other species of the subfamily

Geoplaninae Geoplaninae is a subfamily of land planarians endemic to the Neotropical region. Members of this family are sometimes referred to as the Neotropical land planarians. However, one species, '' Obama nungara'' has been introduced in Europe. Descri ...

by the poorly-developed subcutaneous musculature, an exception in the subfamily. The creeping sole is narrow, which is also rare within the subfamily, except for the genus '' Xerapoa''. The most remarkable feature of ''D. elenae'' is the presence of a secondary male copulatory apparatus, which is not completely developed in the holotype and only known specimen. Additional specimens are necessary to verify whether this secondary male apparatus is indeed a diagnostic feature of this species or simply an anomaly.

Etymology

The name ''Difroehlichia'' honors the planarian researchers Claudio Gilberto Froehlich and

Eudóxia Maria Froehlich Eudóxia Maria Froehlich (21 October 1928 – 26 September 2015) was a Brazilian zoologist. Life Born in 1928, Eudóxia Maria de Oliveira Pinto was the daughter of Alice Alves de Camargo and the ornithologist Olivério Mário de Oliveira Pinto. ...

, who made important contributions to the knowledge of Brazilian land planarians. The specific epithet ''elenae'' honors Dr. Elena Diehl, who studied ants and termites in southern Brazil.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60792221 Geoplanidae Rhabditophora genera