Marionfyfea adventor

Marionfyfea adventor is a species of land planarian described in 2016 from specimens found in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France.[1] However, since the species belongs to the genus Marionfyfea, of which the species are known only from subantarctic islands off New Zealand,[2][3] it is probably an introduced species in Europe.[1]

Marionfyfea adventor
Marionfyfea adventor in a garden in France
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Platyhelminthes
Class:
Rhabditophora
Order:
Tricladida
Suborder:
Continenticola
Family:
Geoplanidae
Subfamily:
Rhynchodeminae
Tribe:
Anzoplanini
Genus:
Marionfyfea
Species:
M. adventor
Binomial name
Marionfyfea adventor
Jones & Sluys, 2016[1]

Description

Marionfyfea adventor is a relatively small species of land planarian, being about 1 cm long by 1 mm wide; when contracted, the body is plump, about 5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. The dorsal and lateral surfaces are irregularly patchy light and dark brown colour with small iridescent blue spots. The creeping sole is uniform paler brown and about 40% of body width. There are 70-80 eyes in total.

Distribution

Marionfyfea adventor has been recorded in widely scattered localities in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, Denmark and Ireland.

Introduced species

Hugh Jones and Ronald Sluys (2016) wrote: "It is probable that M. adventor originates from one of the subantarctic islands or main islands of New Zealand. The most likely means of introduction to Europe is the international horticultural trade. Its widely scattered distribution suggests that it may have been in Europe for some considerable time."[1]

References
  1. Jones, Hugh D.; Sluys, Ronald (2016). "A new terrestrial planarian species of the genus Marionfyfea (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) found in Europe". Journal of Natural History: 1–18. doi:10.1080/00222933.2016.1208907. ISSN 0022-2933.
  2. Winsor, L. (2006). New and revised terrestrial flatworm taxa (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Terricola) of Australia and the Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand. Tuhinga: Records of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 17, 81-104. PDF
  3. Winsor, L. (2011). Some terrestrial flatworm taxa (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Continenticola) of the Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand. Tuhinga: Records of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 22, 161-169. PDF
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