Corresponding author: Francisco Brusa (
Academic editor: Steven Nadler
A new species of land planarians of the genus Cutaneous Muscular Index
Negrete L, Brusa F (2016) First report of the genus
The genus
Specimens were manually collected during the day below fallen logs in two natural reserves from north-eastern Argentina (Misiones Province), both located in the southern portion of the Interior Atlantic Forest ecoregion: Esmeralda Provincial Park (
The animals were photographed alive and their external morphology was recorded. Then, they were killed with boiling water, fixed in 10% formaldehyde and subsequently conserved in 70% ethanol. Body fragments of land flatworms were dehydrated in an ascending series of ethanol, cleared in n-Butanol, embedded in Paraplast®, and serially sectioned with a microtome. Slides were stained with Masson’s trichrome method (
Dorsal view of a live specimen of
Schematic drawing of eyes pattern, in dorsal view, with position of mouth (
Schematic reconstruction, in sagittal view, of the copulatory apparatus of
Esmeralda Provincial Park (
Species of
Measurements (mm) from fixed specimens of : distance from gonopore to anterior end : distance from mouth to anterior end (cutaneous muscular index) (parenchymatic muscular index) , circular cutaneous musculature , diagonal cutaneous musculature , dorsal parenchymatic musculature , longitudinal cutaneous musculature , sub-intestinal parenchymatic musculature , supra-intestinal parenchymatic musculature
Measurements | Holotype | Paratype | Measurements | Holotype | Paratype |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
53 | 51 |
|
2.5 – 10 – 45 | 2.5 – 10 – 50 |
|
4.5 | 4.4 |
|
2.5 – 10 – 75 | 5 – 20 – 90 |
|
1.5 | 1.4 |
|
10% | 13% |
|
40 (75%) | 33.8 (66%) |
|
40 – 50 – 50 | 25 – 50 – 40 |
|
47.3 (89%) | 42.3 (83%) |
|
9% | 8% |
|
90% | 90% |
Pharynx cylindrical, 1.5–2.3 mm in length (3–4% of body length), with dorsal insertion located at the proximal third of pharyngeal pouch (3–3.2 mm in length) (Fig.
Testes dorsal, mature, arranged in one irregular row on each side of the body, located between the supraintestinal parenchymatic muscle layer and intestinal branches (Fig.
Measurements (mm) of reproductive organs of , distance between prostatic vesicle and pharyngeal pouch , length of common glandular ovovitelline duct , length of female atrium , length of female canal , length of male atrium , length of penis papilla , length of prostatic vesicle
Holotype | Paratype | |
---|---|---|
|
16 (30%) | 12 (23%) |
|
37.1 (70%) | 30.6 (60%) |
|
0.5 | 0.45 |
|
5.2 | 5.2 |
|
0.55 | 0.45 |
|
0.95 | 0.7 |
|
14 (26%) | 11 (22%) |
|
0.25 | 0.15 |
|
0.1 | 0.1 |
|
0.65 | 0.45 |
Sperm ducts lined with ciliated cuboidal epithelium, coated by circular fibers (5 µm thick). Lining epithelium of prostatic vesicle columnar and ciliated, receiving abundant fine granular erythrophil secretion from glands with cells bodies located anterior to the prostatic vesicle. Muscularis of prostatic vesicle (15–20 µm thick) arranged in a circular layer interwoven with oblique fibers. Ejaculatory duct lined with ciliated columnar epithelium, which receives scarce fine granular erythrophil secretion, coated by circular fibers (2.5–5 µm thick). Penis papilla lined with non-ciliated columnar epithelium, strongly erythrophil (Fig.
Ovaries ovoid and distally elongate, measuring 500–600 µm in length, located just below the sub-intestinal parenchymatic muscle layer (Fig.
Ovovitelline ducts lined with ciliated cuboidal epithelium, coated by circular fibers (2.5 µm thick). Ascending portions of ovovitelline ducts receive secretion from shell glands (Fig.
Vitellaria well-developed in both specimens studied, located among intestinal branches (Figs
The specific name refers to the dorsal pigmentation of body, stippled with dark gray dots on a light green olive background (from lat.
Southern portion of the Interior Atlantic Forest ecoregion, Misiones Province, north-eastern Argentina. The new species was found in native subtropical forests, in two natural reserves: Esmeralda Provincial Park (
As with other genera of the subfamily
Taking into account the external morphology, among the species currently known of
Regarding the copulatory apparatus, the new species shares with
Some aspects about the internal anatomy of
Regarding
In light of this morphological heterogeneity, it would be interesting to confirm the presence or absence of the distal widening of the ejaculatory duct in
The authors thank Ministerio de Ecología y Recursos Naturales Renovables de Misiones (Misiones, Argentina) and Administración de Parques Nacionales for permission to conduct surveys at Esmeralda Provincial Park and San Antonio Strict Nature Reserve, respectively. We also thank park rangers for their support during the fieldwork in both natural reserves. This study was partially supported by CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) PIP 112–201201–00635 CO, Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (FONCyT) PICT 2014-0768, and