@article {158, title = {A new higher classification of planarian flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida)}, journal = {Journal of Natural History}, volume = {43}, year = {2009}, pages = {1763{\textendash}1777}, chapter = {1763}, url = {http://each.uspnet.usp.br/planarias/Artigos/Geoplanidae/2009-Sluys-et-al-A\%20new\%20higher\%20classification\%20of\%20planarian\%20fl.pdf}, author = {Ronald Sluys and Masaharu Kawakatsu and Marta Riutort and Jaume Bagu{\~n}{\`a}} } @article {18, title = {Molecular barcoding and phylogeography of sexual and asexual freshwater planarians of the genus Dugesia in the Western Mediterranean (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae).}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {52}, number = {3}, year = {2009}, month = {09/2009}, pages = {835-845}, chapter = {835}, abstract = {

Planarians of the genus Dugesia have a worldwide distribution with high species diversity in the Mediterranean area. In this area, populations with a triploid karyotype that reproduce by fissiparity are exceptionally frequent, outnumbering the sexual populations. This situation poses interesting questions, such as the age of these asexual lineages, whether they all belong to the same species or whether the triploidization event is recurrent, and what factors (climatic, geographical, historical...) explain the prevalence of these asexual forms. However, asexual populations cannot be assigned to a species due to the lack of copulatory apparatus - the main structure used in species identification. In this study, we have developed a DNA barcoding method, based on COI and ITS-1 sequences, which allows the assignment of the fissiparous forms to sexual species. At the same time, phylogenetic analysis from species of the western Mediterranean have unveiled the presence of species with highly differentiated populations alongside species with a wide distribution and almost no genetic variation. The roles of habitat instability, dispersal capacity and human activities are briefly discussed.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2009.04.022}, author = {Eva M. L{\'a}zaro and Ronald Sluys and Maria Pala and Giacinta Angela Stocchino and Jaume Bagu{\~n}{\`a} and Marta Riutort} } @article {307, title = {Freshwater planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) from the Palearctic section of the African continent: new records, with the description of a new species}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {3182}, year = {2012}, pages = {1-15}, author = {Harrath, A. H. and Ronald Sluys and Merzoug, D. and Yacoubi-Khebiza, M. and Saleh Alwasel and Marta Riutort} } @article {483, title = {Integrative delineation of species of Mediterranean freshwater planarians (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Dugesiidae)}, journal = {Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {169}, number = {3}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, pages = {523{\textendash}547}, chapter = {523}, abstract = {

The paper presents an integrative taxonomic study on dugesiid freshwater flatworms from the north-eastern Mediterranean region by applying both morphological and molecular criteria in the formulation of stable species hypotheses. The morphological information obtained for the specimens was used in a traditional way by comparing the organismal traits of the various populations and candidate species with those of known species, as documented in the taxonomic literature and as revealed by examination of histological sections of museum specimens. In the molecular species delimitation the General Mixed Yule-Coalescent method (GMYC) was used. Results of this study (1) supported the presence of 13 Dugesia species in the Hellenic area (including D. sicula Lepori, 1948, a pan-Mediterranean species), (2) culminated in the description of four new Dugesia species, (3) suggested the presence of two Confirmed Candidate Species, (4) pointed to 12 GMYC-delimited units in Greece and two in Slovakia as Unconfirmed Candidate Species and (5) revealed the presence of an entirely new genus, represented by two newly described species and a third Unconfirmed Candidate Species. Our results revealed a high diversity of dugesiid species in this relatively small region. It is concluded that the morphological features used by taxonomists in comparative studies of dugesiid flatworms generally result in reliable identifications and delineations of species taxa, except in the case of cryptic species.

}, doi = {10.1111/zoj.12077}, url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/zoj.12077/abstract}, author = {Ronald Sluys and Eduard Sol{\`a} and Gritzalis, Konstantinos and Miquel Vila-Farr{\'e} and Mateos, Eduardo and Marta Riutort} } @article {312, title = {Fluvial basin history in the northeastern Mediterranean region underlies dispersal and speciation patterns in the genus Dugesia (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)}, journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}, volume = {66}, year = {2013}, month = {2013/3//}, pages = {877 - 888}, abstract = {

In this study we analyzed the phylogenetic relationships of eastern Mediterranean freshwater planarians of the genus Dugesia, estimated divergence times for the various clades, and correlated their phylogeographic patterns with geological and paleoclimatic events, in order to discover which evolutionary processes have shaped the present-day distribution of these animals. Specimens were collected from freshwater courses and lakes in continental and insular Greece. Genetic divergences and phylogenetic relationships were inferred by using the mitochondrial gene subunit I of cytochrome oxidase (COI) and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS-1) from 74 newly collected individuals from Greece. Divergence time estimates were obtained under a Bayesian framework, using the COI sequences. Two alternative geological dates for the isolation of Crete from the mainland were tested as calibration points. A clear phylogeographic pattern was present for Dugesia lineages in the Eastern Mediterranean. Morphological data, combined with information on genetic divergences, revealed that eight out of the nine known species were represented in the samples, while additional new, and still undescribed species were detected. Divergence time analyses suggested that Dugesia species became isolated in Crete after the first geological isolation of the island, and that their present distribution in the Eastern Mediterranean has been shaped mainly by vicariant events but also by dispersal. During the Messinian salinity crisis these freshwater planarians apparently were not able to cross the sea barrier between Crete and the mainland, while they probably did disperse between islands in the Aegean Sea. Their dependence on freshwater to survive suggests the presence of contiguous freshwater bodies in those regions. Our results also suggest a major extinction of freshwater planarians on the Peloponnese at the end of the Pliocene, while about 2 Mya ago, when the current Mediterranean climate was established, these Peloponnese populations probably began to disperse again. At the end of the Pliocene or during the Pleistocene, mainland populations of Dugesia colonized the western coast, including the Ionian Islands, which were then part of the continent.

}, keywords = {Aegean, Biogeography, COI, Divergence times, Freshwater planarians, ITS-1, Molecular clock, Phylogeography}, isbn = {1055-7903}, doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.010}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790312004423}, author = {Eduard Sol{\`a} and Ronald Sluys and Gritzalis, Konstantinos and Marta Riutort} }