The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from 1 mm (0.039 in) to large freshwater forms more than 500 mm (20 in) long or terrestrial species like Bipalium kewense which can reach 600 mm (24 in) in length. All the larger forms are flat with ribbon-like or leaf-like shapes, since their lack of respiratory and circulatory systems means that they have to rely on diffusion for internal transport of metabolites. However, many of the smaller forms are round in cross section. Most are predators, and all live in water or in moist terrestrial environments. Most forms reproduce sexually and with few exceptions all are simultaneous hermaphrodites.
Dugesia is a genus of dugesiid triclads that contains some common representatives of the class Turbellaria. These common flatworms are found in freshwater habitats of Africa, Eurasia, and Australia. Dugesia is best known to non-specialists because of its regeneration capacities.
Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms.
Pantelosaurus is an extinct genus of basal sphenacodonts known from the Early Permian period of Saxony, Germany. It contains a single species, Pantelosaurus saxonicus.
Bipalium is a genus of large predatory land planarians. They are often loosely called "hammerhead worms" or "broadhead planarians" because of the distinctive shape of their head region. Land planarians are unique in that they possess a "creeping sole", a highly ciliated region on the ventral epidermis that helps them to creep over the substrate. Native to Asia, several species are invasive to the United States, Canada, and Europe. Some studies have begun the investigation of the evolutionary ecology of these invasive planarians.
Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater planarians distributed worldwide. The type genus is Dugesia Girard, 1850.
Girardia is a genus of freshwater planarians belonging to the family Dugesiidae.
Schmidtea is a genus of freshwater triclads. Species of the genus Schmidtea are widely used in regeneration and developmental studies.
Dugesia aenigma is a species of dugesiid triclad that inhabits freshwater bodies of Cephalonia, Greece.
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, Elba and Mallorca, Eivissa, Sardinia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Crete.
Girardia tigrina, known as the brown planarian or the immigrant triclad flatworm, is a species of dugesiid native to the Americas. It has been accidentally introduced into Europe and Japan.
Schmidtea polychroa is a species of freshwater flatworm, a dugesiid triclad that inhabits the shallow mesotrophic or eutrophic waters of rivers and lakes of Europe. It is also present in North America, where it has been introduced at least in the Saint Lawrence river system. It is an animal with a limited dispersion capability.
Dimarcusidae is a family of triclads found mostly in freshwater habitats of caves, although at least one species, Rhodax evelinae, occurs in surface waters. Currently the family contains only seven species distributed in five genera, although the total number of species is thought to be much higher.
Microplana is a genus of land planarians found in Europe and Africa.
Dugesia artesiana is a species of dugesiid triclad found in Queensland, Australia.
Luteostriata is a genus of land planarians from Brazil characterized by a yellow body with dark longitudinal stripes.
Dugesia subtentaculata is a species of planarian that inhabits the freshwater of Southern France, several localities on the Iberian Peninsula, Mallorca, Morocco and Algeria.
Othelosoma is a genus of land planarians found in Africa and India.
Novibipalium is a genus of land planarians of the subfamily Bipaliinae.
Vermiviatum covidum is a species of predatory land flatworm, found in France and Italy. The Holotype specimen is MNHN JL351B.
