Typhloplaninae Luther, 1904

Steenkiste, Niels Van, Tessens, Bart, Krznaric, Kathleen & Artois, Tom, 2011, Dalytyphloplanida (Platyhelminthes: Rhabdocoela) from Andalusia, Spain, with the description of four new species, Zootaxa 2791, pp. 1-29 : 14

Typhloplaninae Luther, 1904

Strongylostoma elongatum Hofsten, 1907 ( Fig. 2 F)

New localities in Spain. Doñana National Park, Provincia de Huelva, Spain (36°49’27”N, 6°21’40”W). Llanos del Taraje near Ecomuseo Robledo de la Plancha: muddy temporal pond with Ranunculus aquatilis and sedges (25/03/ 2008).

Doñana National Park, Provincia de Huelva, Spain (37°04’23”N, 6°22’28”W). Laguna de la FAO: permanent water body with submersed vegetation (05/04/2008).

Other localities in Spain. Central areas (Sierra de Guadarrama and river Tajo basin, see Gamo & Noreña- Janssen 1998).

New locality outside Spain. Palearctic: Mol, Antwerp, Belgium (51°13’06”N, 05°10’49”E). Buitengoor: aquatic vegetation from a marsh in an open area (20/08/2008).

Known distribution. Widespread throughout the Palearctic: many localities in Europe, Western Russia, Siberia (see Luther 1963 for localities and references), Western Europe ( UK: North Wales) ( Young 1972b, 1973), Central Europe ( Germany: South Lower Saxony) ( Heitkamp 1982), Eastern Europe ( Romania: floodplain of the Danube, littoral freshwater lakes of the Black Sea) ( Mack-Fira 1968; 1970b), Western Russia (Urals, Northern Dvina River and upper Volga River) ( Rogozin 1996; Korgina 1999, 2002) and the Middle East ( Israel) ( Noreña et al. 2008); Nearctic: Greenland ( Steinböck 1932), USA (New York, Wisconsin) ( Kolasa et al. 1987; Watermolen 2005), Canada (Ontario) ( Gregory et al. 2000).

Material. Studies on several live animals from the new localities in Spain of which three were whole mounted. Observations on one live specimen from Belgium.

Remarks. Strongylostoma elongatum can easily be recognized from the other representatives of the taxon Strongylostoma Ørsted, 1844 by the construction of the copulatory organ. Spines are only present in the distal part of the ejaculatory duct, while other species have spines over the entire length of the ejaculatory duct ( S. cirratum Beklemischew, 1922 , S. dicorymbum Marcus, 1946 and S. radiatum Müller, 1774 ) or completely lack spines ( S. simplex Meixner, 1915 ). In all live animals, the copulatory organ and the muscular copulatory bursa were clearly visible. However, the spines of the ejaculatory duct disappear when mounted with lactophenol. Although for S. gonocephalum ( Silliman, 1884) Graff, 1911 and S. coecum ( Sekera, 1906) Sekera, 1912 a detailed description of the copulatory organ is lacking, they can be easily distinguished from S. elongatum by the lack of eyes in S. coecum and the presence of “Grübchenflecken” (deepened oval spots beside and behind the eyes) and reticulated vitellaria in S. gonocephalum (see Graff 1913), features the specimens from Spain do not show. For a more detailed discussion on the taxon Strongylostoma , see the discussion of S. devleeschouweri n. sp.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Trigonostomum penicillatum (Schmidt, 1857) Micoletzky, 1910 (A) Stylet from the whole mount. (B) Bursal appendage from a live animal. Promesostoma maculosum Ax, 1956 (C) Stylet and copulatory organ from a live animal. Kytorhynchidarum sp. (D) Head region. Phaenocora sp.? Ehrenberg, 1836 (E) Live animal. Strongylostoma elongatum Hofsten, 1907 (F) Copulatory organ from a live animal.