Cheliplana pileola Jouk & De Vocht, 1989

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 : 477

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4970.3.2
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FEABE248-E1EA-48F5-A1AF-0077FE40C257
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4766778
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E0878B-186F-FF8A-62BE-1F1EFD71C829
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Cheliplana pileola Jouk & De Vocht, 1989
status

Treatment

Material examined. Reference material. The holotype (whole-mounted) specimen ( SMNH Type 6981) and the 3 paratypes (two whole mounts and 1 serially sectioned specimen HU 145–147) from Kenya. 1 whole mount from South Africa (HU VII.4.07) .

Known distribution. Tudor Creek, Mombasa, Kenya ( Jouk and De Vocht 1989). Sodwana Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa ( Willems et al. 2017).

Remarks. According to the description of Jouk and De Vocht (1989), specimens reach a total body length of 0.7–0.9 mm. Caudally, a single, continuous girdle of haptic glands is present. The pharynx is situated in the anterior third of the body. The prepharyngeal cavity is not armed with spines, though Jouk and De Vocht (1989) report cellular bodies with nuclei protruding above the epithelial surface of the prepharyngeal cavity.

The proboscis is armed with a pair of smooth hooks (14–18 μm long) and has a pair of soft proboscis sidepieces, without sclerotised rods. The hook supports are 7–13 μm long.

A pair of partially fused testes is present alongside and posterior to the pharynx. The male copulatory organ is present in the posterior 1/4. A pair of seminal vesicles enters the proximal end of the copulatory bulb, which contains a 25–30-µm-long prostatic vesicle, with a single type of secretion. The cirrus is 45–50 μm long and armed with sclerotised spines that somewhat increase in size towards the distal end. The distal end of the cirrus is surrounded by a sclerotic penis papilla of ~20 μm long. The copulatory bulb, as well as two glandular systems and a blind diverticulum empty into a male atrium.

The single ovary is located alongside the male copulatory system. A large bursa lies alongside the ovary. The presence of a vagina externa could not be ascertained.