''Geoplana vaginuloides'' is a species 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 ...

belonging to 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 ...

. It is found in areas within the Atlantic Forest in the municipalities of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and

Teresópolis Teresópolis () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the States of Brazil, state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in a mountainous region known as ''Região Serrana''. The Serra dos Órgãos National Park li ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Description

''Geoplana vaginuloides'' is a flatworm around 70 mm in length and 4 mm in width. The body is elongate with parallel margins; the front tip is rounded and the back tip is pointed. The dorsal side has a black band running down the middle of the body, flanked on either side by a white-yellow stripe; outside of the yellow stripe is a thin black line, bordered by a reddish-iron colored band. The underlying base color is a saffron yellow. The ventral side is a grey color; at the head, the margins darken.Ana Laura Almeida and others, ‘Endless forms most beautiful’: taxonomic revision of the planarian ''Geoplana vaginuloides'' (Darwin, 1844) and discovery of numerous congeners (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida), ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'', Volume 185, Issue 1, January 2019, Pages 1–65. Aside from its coloration, it is distinguished from other members of ''Geoplana'' by the penis papilla having the dorsal insertion displaced anteriorly and ventrally, at the same level as the ventral insertion, so that the root of the penis papilla points to the dorsum.

References

Geoplanidae Taxa named by Charles Darwin Animals described in 1844 Fauna of the Atlantic Forest Platyhelminthes of Brazil {{Flatworm-stub