Mucroplana caelata Sopott-Ehlers & Schmidt, 1975

Ramos-Sánchez, Mariela, 2024, The polyclads (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the Tropical Eastern Pacific: Commented checklist and description of a new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 962 (1), pp. 1-67 : 23

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2024.962.2683
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40171C5B-90EB-4641-91FF-EA8CA2C60D23
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13947318
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F2DF38-025C-FFAD-FE7A-4A7DFC797C1E
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Mucroplana caelata Sopott-Ehlers & Schmidt, 1975
status

Treatment

Mucroplana caelata Sopott-Ehlers & Schmidt, 1975 View in CoL

Mucroplana caelata Sopott-Ehlers & Schmidt, 1975: 208–210 View in CoL , pl. 8 fig. a–b (type locality: Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador).

Mucroplana caelata View in CoL – Faubel 1983: 41–42, fig. 5 (identification keys). — Westheide 1991: 44 (mentioned only).

Distribution

Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador.

Habitat

Interstitial (coarse intertidal sediments) or rocks.

Remarks

Mucroplana caelata could be considered a very primitive species because the most unique organizational feature within the polyclads: the proximal concentration of the extraepithelial prostatic glands. The family Mucraplanidae is characterized by the absence of a true prostatic vesicle, but it presents a peculiar structure in the distal ejaculatory duct, which expands to form a bulbous organ. This organ can assume the function of a seminal vesicle by storing sperm ( Faubel 1983).