Dugesia
Encyclopedia
Dugesia is a genus
of dugesiid
flatworms containing some common representatives of the class Turbellaria
. These common flatworms are found in freshwater habitats. Their digestion tract consists of a central tubular pharynx
. Each branch consists of ceca, which delivers the nutrient
s to the body. This worm has a sac digestive plan, that is, it does not have a separate opening for waste excretion.
Planarians have ocelli (eye spots) that detect the amount of light in the nearby environment, and auricles (ear-like flaps) that detect the intensity of water current. They are hermaphrodites, and some of them reproduce by parthenogenesis
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of dugesiid
Dugesiidae
Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater Tricladida distributed worldwide . According to molecular analyses, Dugesiidae is the sister group of land planarians.-Genera:Eleven Dugesiidae genera are known:* Bopsula* Cura* Dugesia...
flatworms containing some common representatives of the class Turbellaria
Turbellaria
The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes , and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from to in length...
. These common flatworms are found in freshwater habitats. Their digestion tract consists of a central tubular pharynx
Pharynx
The human pharynx is the part of the throat situated immediately posterior to the mouth and nasal cavity, and anterior to the esophagus and larynx. The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections: the nasopharynx , the oropharynx , and the laryngopharynx...
. Each branch consists of ceca, which delivers the nutrient
Nutrient
A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment. They are used to build and repair tissues, regulate body processes and are converted to and used as energy...
s to the body. This worm has a sac digestive plan, that is, it does not have a separate opening for waste excretion.
Planarians have ocelli (eye spots) that detect the amount of light in the nearby environment, and auricles (ear-like flaps) that detect the intensity of water current. They are hermaphrodites, and some of them reproduce by parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
.
Phylogeny and taxonomy
Dugesia species have not enough morphological characters to find out which are the relationships between them. Furthermore, those available use to contradict each other. Dugesia species are identified by the combination of diagnostic characters instead of different apomorphies. Over 70 species within Dugesia genus have been described.- D. aenigma
- D. aethiopica
- D. andamanensis
- D. annandalei
- D. arcadia
- D. ariadnae
- D. artesiana
- D. astrocheta
- D. austroasiatica
- D. bactriana
- D. bakurianica
- D. batuensis
- D. benazzii
- D. bengalensis
- D. biblica
- D. borneana
- D. brigantii
- D. burmaensis
- D. capensis
- D. colapha
- D. congolensis
- D. cretica
- D. damoae
- D. debeauchampi
- D. deharvengi
- D. didiaphragma
- D. ectophysa
- D. elegans
- D. etrusca
- D. golanica
- D. gonocephala
- D. hepta
- D. hymanae
- D. ilvana
- D. indica
- D. indonesiana
- D. iranica
- D. izuensis
- D. japonica
- D. krishnaswamyi
- D. lamottei
- D. lanzai
- D. leclerci
- D. leporii
- D. libanica
- D. liguriensis
- D. lindbergi
- D. machadoi
- D. maghrebiana
- D. malickyi
- D. mertoni
- D. milloti
- D. minotauros
- D. mirabilis
- D. monomyoda
- D. myopa
- D. nansheae
- D. neumanni
- D. notogaea
- D. novaguineana
- D. praecaucasica
- D. ryukyuensis
- D. sagitta
- D. salina
- D. siamana
- D. sicula
- D. subtentaculata
- D. sudanica
- D. tamilensis
- D. transcaucasica
- D. uenorum
- D. vestibularis
External links
- Nogi T., Zhang D., Chan J. D. & Marchant J. S. (2009). "A Novel Biological Activity of Praziquantel Requiring Voltage-Operated Ca2+ Channel β Subunits: Subversion of Flatworm Regenerative Polarity". PLoS Neglected Tropical DiseasesPLoS Neglected Tropical DiseasesPLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases is an open access, online scientific journal devoted to the study of neglected tropical diseases. Submissions go through pre-publication peer review for scientific rigor and relevance to a specific set of overlooked diseases, including helminth, bacterial, viral,...
3(6): e464. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000464.