Cheliplana asica Marcus, 1952

Gobert, Stefan, Diez, Yander L., Monnens, Marlies, Reygel, Patrick, Van Steenkiste, Niels W. L., Leander, Brian S. & Artois, Tom, 2021, A revision of the genus Cheliplana de Beauchamp, 1927 (Rhabdocoela: Schizorhynchia), with the description of six new species, Zootaxa 4970 (3), pp. 453-494 : 465

Cheliplana asica Marcus, 1952

Material examined. Reference material. 1 whole mount and 3 serially sectioned specimens from Brazil ( SMNH 109332–109335)

Known distribution. São Paulo, Brazil ( Marcus 1952).

Holguín, Cuba ( Diez et al. 2019).

Remarks. Based on differences in cirrus morphology and the bursa-ovary connection, Brunet (1968) divided Cheliplana asica in two subspecies, C. asica asica from Brazil and C. asica terminalis from the Mediterranean and West Indian Ocean. We now consider both subspecies to be separate species (see remarks on C. terminalis Brunet, 1968 ). Our observations on the Brazilian species correspond to Marcus’ description ( Marcus 1952) and the notes by Brunet, 1968.

Live specimens are ~ 1.8 mm long, with a single, caudal adhesive belt. The proboscis is armed with 12–15-µmlong hooks and provided with a pair of short, sclerotised sidepieces. The postrostral bulb measures 30 μm by 10 μm and is surrounded by circular muscles. The prepharyngeal tube is lined with an epithelium forming microvilli. The pharynx is characterised by papillae on its rostral edge.

The single testis is positioned ventro-caudally to the pharynx. A pair of efferent ducts leads from the testis to a pair of spindle-shaped seminal vesicles, which in turn enter the proximal end of a slender copulatory bulb along with prostatic glands. The proximal end of the copulatory bulb is ~12 μm wide and is bordered by a high epithelium. The entire copulatory apparatus is ~280 μm long. The ejaculatory duct forms a long, unarmed, sclerotised cirrus.