Dugesia sicula is a species of dugesiid triclad that lives in freshwater bodies of the Mediterranean Basin, where it is widely distributed. It has been reported from Sicily,[1] Elba and Mallorca,[2] Eivissa,[3] Sardinia,[4] Algeria,[5] Tunisia,[6] Morocco[7] and Crete.[8]

Dugesia sicula
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Order: Tricladida
Family: Dugesiidae
Genus: Dugesia
Species:
D. sicula
Binomial name
Dugesia sicula
Lepori, 1948

Morphology

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D. sicula individuals have an asymmetrical penis papilla, with a diaphragm at the base, separating the seminal vesicle from the ejaculatory duct. This duct is ventral and it opens subterminally. The seminal vesicle is wrapped by a thin layer of bulbar muscles. The penis papilla is weakly muscular and more parenchymatic.[8]

Reproduction

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D. sicula is known to reproduce sexual and asexually.[1]

Phylogeny

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D. sicula position in relation with other Dugesia species after the work of Lázaro et al., 2009:[9]

 Dugesia 

References

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  1. ^ a b Lepori, N.G., 1948. Descrizione di Dugesia sicula, nuova sp. di Triclade d'acqua dolce dei dintorni di Catania. Arch. Zool. Ital. 33: 461–472
  2. ^ Benazzi, M. (1961): "Les planaires des ïles tyrrhéniennes et leur differenciation raciale, cytologique et génétique". Le peuplement des ïles mediterranéennes et le problème de l'insularité, (ed. CNRS, Paris), pp. 103–112.
  3. ^ Ribas M., Pala M., Vacca R. A., Riutort M., Baguñà J. "Taxonomical status of the Western Mediterranean asexual populations of the Dugesia (D) gonocephala group: Morphological, Karyological and Biochemical data". Fortschr. Zool. 36: 129-137 (1988)
  4. ^ Stocchino et al., 2005 G.A. Stocchino, G. Corso, R. Manconi, S. Casu and M. Pala, "Endemic freshwater planarians of Sardinia: Redescription of Dugesia hepta (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) with a comparison of the Mediterranean species of the genus", Journal of Natural History 39 (2005), pp. 1947–1960.
  5. ^ Vries, E D. J. (1988). A synopsis of the nominal species of the subgenus Dugesia (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Paludicola) from Africa and Madagascar. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 92, 345–382.
  6. ^ Charni, M., Harrath, A. H., Sluys, R., Tekaya, S., and Zghal, F. (2004). "The freshwater planarian Dugesia sicula Lepori, 1948 (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) in Tunisia: ecology, karyology, and morphology". Hydrobiologia 517, 161–170.
  7. ^ Stocchino, G A., Manconi R., Corso G., Sluys R., Casu S., & Pala M., 2009. "African planarians: morphology and karyology of Dugesia maghrebiana sp. n. (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) from Tunisia". Italian Journal of Zoology; 76(1): 83-91
  8. ^ a b De Vries, EJ, 1988. "On the identity and occurrence of Dugesia sicula and D. biblica (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Paludicola) in the Mediterranean region". Fortschritte der Zoologie 36: 405–411.
  9. ^ Lazaro, E. M., Sluys, R., Pala, M., Stocchino, G. A., Baguna, J., & Riutort, M. (2009). "Molecular barcoding and phylogeography of sexual and asexual freshwater planarians of the genus Dugesia in the Western Mediterranean (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 52(3), 835–845.
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