| Paraprostatum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Order: | Polycladida |
| Family: | Euplanidae |
| Genus: | Paraprostatum |
| Species: | P. echinolittorinae |
| Binomial name | |
| Paraprostatum echinolittorinae Faubel & Sluys, 2007 | |
Paraprostatum is a species of marine flatworm belonging to the family Euplanidae. It is monotypic, containing the sole species Paraprostatum echinolittorinae [1] It is found within Mexico and Central America.
The genus Paraprostatum is distinguished from other Euplanids by a pharynx anterior to the mid-body or centrally oriented, the presence of eye spots, a potential lacking of nuchal tentacles or tentacular knobs, the presence of a stylet in the male copulatory apparatus that is joined to the proximal seminal vesicle, and the lack of a Lang's vesicle. [2]
P. echinolittorinae is about 5 by 3 centimeters in size. The body is oval and elongate in shape, with blunt, rounded tips. The ends are not ruffled. The body is opaque, thick, and fleshy. [2]
The genus name of Paraprostatum is derived from the Greek παρά (close to) and Aprostatum , referring to the taxonomic closeness of Paraprostatum to the other genus. The specific epithet of echinolittorinae is in reference to Echinolittorina modesta , which the species shares a commensal relationship with. [2]
The species has been observed in the mantle cavities of several gastropods, having been found in several areas in Mexico and Central America. It has been found on coasts along this region such as Puerto Ángel and Playa de los Muertos in Mexico, Tárcoles, Manuel Antonio National Park and Guanacaste in Costa Rica, and the La Chocolatera cliff of Salinas in Ecuador. [2]
P. echinolittorinae has been observed to practice commensalism with several gastropod species, occupying their mantle cavities. Among these species are several members of the genus Echinolittorina , Lottia mesoleuca , and Tegula pellisserpentis . [2]
Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms, consisting of 1300 known species. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many have patterns of yellow, orange, red and green coloration. The foregut, stomach and intestine run a little below the midline of the body, the anus is at the tip of the tail, and the mouth is under the front. A little above the gut is the rhynchocoel, a cavity which mostly runs above the midline and ends a little short of the rear of the body. All species have a proboscis which lies in the rhynchocoel when inactive but everts to emerge just above the mouth to capture the animal's prey with venom. A highly extensible muscle in the back of the rhynchocoel pulls the proboscis in when an attack ends. A few species with stubby bodies filter feed and have suckers at the front and back ends, with which they attach to a host.
A siphon is an anatomical structure which is part of the body of aquatic molluscs in three classes: Gastropoda, Bivalvia and Cephalopoda.
Enopla is one of the classes of the worm phylum Nemertea, characterized by the presence of a peculiar armature of spines or plates in the proboscis.
The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is drawn into the mantle cavity and over the gill and which serves as a chemoreceptor to locate food. Siphonal canals allow for active transport of water to sensory organs inside the shell. Organisms without siphonal canals in their shells rely on passive or diffuse transport or water into their shell. Those with siphonal canals have a direct inhalant stream of water that interacts with sensory organs to detect concentration and direction of a stimulus, such as food or mates. In certain groups of carnivorous snails, where the siphon is particularly long, the structure of the shell has been modified in order to house and protect the soft structure of the siphon. Thus the siphonal canal is a semi-tubular extension of the aperture of the shell through which the siphon is extended when the animal is active.
Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms.
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.
Tomigerus clausus is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Odontostomidae.
The respiratory system of gastropods varies greatly in form. These variations were once used as a basis for dividing the group into subclasses. The majority of marine gastropods breathe through a single gill, supplied with oxygen by a current of water through the mantle cavity. This current is U-shaped, so that it also flushes waste products away from the anus, which is located above the animal's head, and would otherwise cause a problem with fouling.
Gastropteridae, the bat-winged slugs, is a family of sea slugs, gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Philinoidea of the clade Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs and bubble snails. The greatest diversity of these colourful small slugs is in the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific region.
The Temnocephalida are an order of turbellarian flatworms.
Echinolittorina meleagris is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.
Aiteng ater is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aitengidae. The specific name ater is from the Latin language and means black, in reference to the appearance of the slug on the mud.
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.
Parvilucifera is a genus of marine alveolates that behave as endoparasites of dinoflagellates. It was described in 1999 by biologists Fredrik Norén and Øjvind Moestrup, who identified the genus among collections of Dinophysis dinoflagellates off the coast of Sweden. Initially mistaken for products of sexual reproduction, the round bodies found within these collections were eventually recognized as sporangia of a parasitic protist, later identified as P. infectans, the type species. The examination of this organism and its close genetic relationship to Perkinsus lead to the creation of the Perkinsozoa, within the Alveolata group.
Listriolobus pelodes is a species of marine spoon worm. It is found in shallow seas in the North East Pacific off the coast of California. It lives in a burrow in soft sediments.
Malacobdellidae is a monogeneric family within the phylum Nemertea. It is included with the order Hoplonemertea within the class Enopla.
The reproductive system of planarians is broadly similar among different families, although the associated structures can vary in complexity.
Bipaliinae is a subfamily of land planarians found mainly in Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, although some species have been introduced worldwide.
Hylocelis is a genus of flatworm belonging to the family Cryptocelidae.
Zygantrella is a genus of flatworm belonging to the family Ilyplanidae. It is monotypic, containing the sole species Zygantrella queenslandensis It is found within Australia.
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