Polycladus
{{Short description|Genus of flatworms}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Polycladus_gayi.jpg
| image_caption = Polycladus gayi
| genus = Polycladus
| species = gayi
| authority = Blanchard, 1847
| synonyms = Geoplana gayi Schultze & Müller, 1857
}}
Polycladus is a genus of land planarians from South America, currently comprising a single species, Polycladus gayi, which occurs in the Valdivian Forest, Chile.
Description
Polycladus is a very understudied genus of land planarians. It was defined as land planarians with a wide, flat and leaf-like body, having the entire ventral surface ciliated and with mouth and gonopore posteriorly shifted in relation to other land planarians. The copulatory apparatus has a well-developed permanent penis and the female canal enters the genital antrum ventrally.Ogren, R. E. and Kawakatsu, M. (1990). Index to the species of the family Geoplanidae (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Terricola) Part I: Geoplaninae. Bulletin of Fujis Women's College. 29: 79-166. This definition, however, is incomplete regarding all anatomical structures currently considered in the definition of planarian genera.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/zsc.12019| title = Molecular phylogeny of Geoplaninae (Platyhelminthes) challenges current classification: Proposal of taxonomic actions| journal = Zoologica Scripta| volume = 42| issue = 5| pages = 508| year = 2013| last1 = Carbayo | first1 = F. | last2 = Álvarez-Presas | first2 = M. | last3 = Olivares | first3 = C. U. T. | last4 = Marques | first4 = F. P. L. | last5 = Froehlich | first5 = E. X. M. | last6 = Riutort | first6 = M. }}
In 2023, Polycladus was discovered preying on a black snail, Macrocyclis peruvianus, in the wild.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/aec.13430| title = Records of the land planarian Polycladus gayi (Tricladida, Geoplanidae) preying on black snails Macrocyclis peruvianus (Gastropoda, Macrocyclidae)| date = 2023| last1 = Boll| first1 = Piter K.| last2 = Lloncón| first2 = Yerko| last3 = Almendras| first3 = Diego| journal = Austral Ecology| volume = 48| issue = 8| pages = 2239–2245| bibcode = 2023AusEc..48.2239B}}
Etymology
The name Polycladus comes from Greek πολύ (many) + κλάδος (branch), referring to the branched intestine. Despite the name, Polycladus is not a species of the flatworm order Polycladida, but rather of Tricladida.
The specific epithet of the type-species, gayi, commemorates French naturalist Claude Gay.{{Cite journal | title = Recherches sur l'organisation des vers| journal = Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie |series=3e série| volume = 8| pages = 119–149| year = 1847| last1 = Blanchard | first1 = Émile|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.51506|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/51506#/| doi-access = free| hdl = 2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t8gf1q10b| hdl-access = free}} {{open access}}
References
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