Predatory flatworm Diversibipalium sp. crawling on a path in Thomson Nature Park, Singapore
Diversibipalium is a genus of land planarians of the subfamily Bipaliinae (hammerhead flatworms). It was erected to include species lacking sufficient morphological information to allow them to be classified in the appropriate genus.[1][2]
During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, many land planarian species were described based solely on external characters. Currently, the genera of land planarians are highly based on their internal anatomy, especially the anatomy of the copulatory apparatus. As a result, species with old descriptions that were never redescribed, so that their internal anatomy remains unknown, cannot be assigned to the correct genus. Thus, the genus Diversibipalium was created to temporarily accommodate species of the subfamily Bipaliinae whose anatomy of the copulatory apparatus is still unknown.[1]
Diversibipalium multilineatum(Makino & Shirasawa, 1983) is a large-size invasive species, originally from Japan, now found in several European countries.[2] It is superficially similar to Bipalium kewense, which is even more widespread in the world, but can be easily distinguished by the marking on its head (D. multilineatum has an 'exclamation point' on the head).
Diversibipalium mayottensisJustine, Gastineau, Gros, Gey, Ruzzier, Charles & Winsor, 2022 is a small-size species, found only in the French island of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean.[3] According to a comparative study of the mitochondrial genomes and other genes, D. mayottensis is the sister-group to all other bipaliines.[3]
The genus Diversibipalium currently contains the following species:
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