Geoplana Goetschi

''Geoplana'' is a genus of land planarians found in South America.

Taxonomic history

The genus ''Geoplana'' was erected in 1857 by William Stimpson and included most land planarians with several eyes distributed along the body.Stimpson, W. (1857). ''Prodromus descriptionis animalium evertebratorum quæ in Expeditione ad Oceanum, Pacificum Septentrionalem a Republica Federata missa, Johanne Rodgers Duce, observavit er descripsit. Pars I. Turbellaria Dendrocœla.'' Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 9:19-31. Species with only two eyes were placed in the genus ''Rhynchodemus'', while species with a crescent-shaped head were placed in ''Bipalium''.

In the same year, apparently unaware of Stimpson's paper, the naturalist Max Schultze, based on published information and new species collected in Brazil by the naturalist Fritz Müller, also erected a genus named ''Geoplana'', but included all land planarians in it.Schultze, M. and Müller, F. (1857). ''Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Landplanarien.'' Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Halle. 4:61-74. However, Stimpson's system prevailed.

During most of the 20th century, many new land planarian species, mostly from Australia and South America, were placed in ''Geoplana''. In 1955, Eudóxia Maria Froehlich defined that ''Geoplana vaginuloides'' would be the type-species of ''Geoplana'', as it was the first species listed by Stimpson.Froehlich, E. M. (1955). ''Sobre Espécies Brasileiras do Gênero Geoplana.'' Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras da Universidade de São Paulo, Série Zoologia. 19:289-339.

In 1990, Robert E. Ogren and Masaharu Kawakatsu published a review of the classification of land planarians and divided ''Geoplana'' in four genera: ''Geoplana'', '' Gigantea'', ''Notogynaphallia'' and '' Pasipha''. ''Geoplana'' retained all species with dorsal testes, a protrusible penis and a female canal entering the genital antrum dorsally. Species with ventral testes, without a protrusible penis or with a female canal entering the genital antrum ventrally were placed in other genera.Ogren, R. E. and Kawakatsu, M. (1990). ''Index to the species of the family Geoplanidae (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Terricola) Part I: Geoplaninae.'' Bulletin of Fujis Women's College. 29: 79-166.

During the 21st century, molecular studies revealed that ''Geoplana'' sensu Ogren & Kawakatsu was still heterogeneous. A study published in 2013 by Carbayo et al., based on molecular data, divided ''Geoplana'' in 6 genera: ''Geoplana'', '' Barreirana'', ''Cratera'', ''Matuxia'', ''Obama'', and ''Paraba''. Only three species remained as ''Geoplana'', along with several ''incertae sedis''.

Current description

Currently, the genus ''Geoplana'' is characterized by having the features described by Ogren & Kawatasu (dorsal testes, a protrusible penis and a female canal entering the genital antrum dorsally) plus several others, such as a slender body with nearly parallel margins, a strongly convex dorsum, monolobulated eyes (i.e., simple and circular, with only one lobe), and a strong muscle tube around the intestine.

Species

The following species are currently recognised in the genus ''Geoplana'':

*''Geoplana alterfusca''
*''Geoplana arkalabamensis''
*''Geoplana aymara''
*''Geoplana beckeri''
*''Geoplana bimbergi''
*''Geoplana caleta''
*''Geoplana cantuta''
*''Geoplana caucaensis''
*''Geoplana caya''
*''Geoplana chalona''
*''Geoplana chanca''
*''Geoplana chilihua''
*''Geoplana chita''
*''Geoplana chiuna''
*''Geoplana chulpa''
*''Geoplana crawfordi''
*''Geoplana cyanea''
*''Geoplana doederleini''
*''Geoplana duca''
*''Geoplana excellentissima''
*''Geoplana fragai''
*'' Geoplana fuhrmanni''
*''Geoplana fusca''
*''Geoplana gabriellae''
*'' Geoplana goetschi''
*''Geoplana guacensis''
*'' Geoplana hina''
*''Geoplana irua''
*''Geoplana jandira''
*''Geoplana lama''
*''Geoplana lambaya''
*''Geoplana lareta''
*''Geoplana leucophryna''
*''Geoplana mayori''
*''Geoplana mirim''
*''Geoplana mixopulla''
*''Geoplana multipunctata''
*''Geoplana nigra''
*''Geoplana notophthalma''
*'' Geoplana pavani''
*'' Geoplana pichuna''
*''Geoplana picta''
*''Geoplana placilla''
*''Geoplana pulchella''
*''Geoplana quagga''
*''Geoplana quenua''
*''Geoplana quichua''
*''Geoplana regia''
*''Geoplana saima''
*''Geoplana shapra''
*''Geoplana takia''
*''Geoplana talpa''
*''Geoplana tamboensis''
*''Geoplana taxiarcha''
*'' Geoplana tirua''
*''Geoplana toriba''
*''Geoplana ubaquensis''
*''Geoplana unicolor''
*''Geoplana vaginuloides''
*''Geoplana valdiviana''
*''Geoplana vicuna''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18520195

Geoplanidae
Rhabditophora genera