Gusana is a genus of land planarians found in Chile.

Gusana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Order: Tricladida
Family: Geoplanidae
Subfamily: Geoplaninae
Tribe: Gusanini
Almeida & Carbayo, 2023
Genus: Gusana
Froehlich, 1978
Type species
Geoplana cruciata
von Graff, 1899

Description

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Gusana was defined as land planarians with a broad, leaf-like body that tapers very abruptly anteriorly, giving it a triangular anterior end. The cutaneous musculature, both ventrally and dorsally, is partially sunk into the mesenchyma. The sensory border forms a thick edge around the ventral margin of the anterior end and the sensory pits are internally branched, differently from what occurs in most Neotropical land planarians. The copulatory apparatus has a small intra-antral penis papilla and the female canal enters the genital antrum ventrally.[1]

Species

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The genus Gusana currently includes seven species:[2]

References

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  1. ^ Ogren, Robert E.; Kawakatsu, Masaharu (1990). "Index to the species of the family Geoplanidae (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Terricola) Part I: Geoplaninae". The Bulletin of Fuji Women's College. Series 2. 28: 79–166. 
  2. ^ Almeida, Ana Laura; Álvarez-Presas, Marta; Bolonhezi, Laura; Carbayo, Fernando (2022). "Integrative taxonomy increases biodiversity knowledge of Gusana (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Geoplanidae) with the description of four new Chilean species". Invertebrate Systematics. 36 (6): 533. doi:10.1071/IS21066. ISSN 1445-5226.