Cheliplana curini Gobert, Reygel & Artois, 2017

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 : 467

Cheliplana curini Gobert, Reygel & Artois, 2017

Material examined. Reference material. 9 whole-mounted specimens, including the holotype ( SMNH Type 8905; VII.4.29– VII.4.36), and 8 serially sectioned specimens (HU VII.4.37– VII.4.44) from Lanzarote and Sardinia .

Known distribution. Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain ( Gobert et al. 2017). Sardinia, Italy ( Gobert et al. 2017).

Remarks. Live specimens are ~ 0.8–1.3 mm long, with orange to bright red pigmentation. The proboscis is ~40 μm long, with smooth hooks measuring 20–27 μm and hook supports of ~20–30 μm. A pair of soft, rod-shaped proboscis sidepieces, without bristles, is present. The horizontally oriented pharynx measures approximately 1/5 of the total body length and connects to the mouth via a long, unarmed prepharyngeal tube.

A single testis is positioned near the caudal end of the pharynx. In the posterior half of the body, an elongate copulatory bulb (350–370 μm) is present. A pair of seminal vesicles enters the proximal end of the copulatory bulb, which contains a globular prostatic vesicle. A long ejaculatory duct runs axially through the copulatory bulb. Distally, it forms a sclerotised, unarmed cirrus (56–74 μm) surrounded by three blind-ending accessory cirri. The latter respectively measure 43–50 μm, 50–80 μm and 60–75 μm. Each accessory cirrus is provided with fine spines. The cirrus and accessory cirri merge into a thinly sclerotised, unarmed ‘sleeve’, which makes up a distal penis papilla.

A muscular vagina externa opens caudally to the gonopore. The interior lumen of the vagina is lined with a thickened basal lamina, forming a pseudo-cuticula. The vagina connects to a large bursa that consists of two parts: a non-muscular, syncytial region, containing large vesicles adjacent to the ovary, and a distal, saclike region. No spermatic duct between the ovary and bursa is present.