Gigantea (planarian)

Gigantea
Gigantea gigantea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Class: Rhabditophora
Order: Tricladida
Suborder: Continenticola
Family: Geoplanidae
Subfamily: Geoplaninae
Genus: Gigantea
Ogren & Kawakatsu, 1990
Type species
Geoplana gigantea
von Graff, 1899

Gigantea is a genus of land planarians from the Neotropic ecozone.

Description

Species of Gigantea have a large, broad and flat body. The copulatory apparatus has a permanent penis and the ovovitelline ducts enter the female atrium from below.[1] This definition, however, is incomplete regarding the anatomical features currently considered in the definition of planarian genera and Gigantea is certainly a heterogeneous genus.[2]

Etymology

The name Gigantea (Latin for "giant") comes from the specific epithet, gigantea, of the type-species, originally described as Geoplana gigantea due to its large size.[1]

Species

Currently, there are 13 species assigned to the genus Gigantea:

  • Gigantea bistriata (Hyman, 1962)
  • Gigantea cameliae (Furhmann, 1912)
  • Gigantea chiriquii (Hyman, 1962)
  • Gigantea gigantea (von Graff, 1899)
  • Gigantea gouvernoni Jones & Sterrer, 2005
  • Gigantea idaia (Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, 1951)
  • Gigantea maupoi Carbayo, 2008
  • Gigantea montana (Hyman, 1939)
  • Gigantea picadoi (de Beauchamp, 1912)
  • Gigantea sandersoni (Prudhoe, 1949)
  • Gigantea unicolor (Hyman, 1955)
  • Gigantea urubambensis Negrete, Brusa & Carbayo, 2010
  • Gigantea vongunteni (Fuhrmann, 1912)

References

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