A Preliminary Study on Land Planarians of Taiwan

This paper provides an overview of the current status of land planarian taxonomy. Familial and subfamilial definitions of Bipaliidae, Rhynchodemidae (Rhynchodeminae and Microplaninae) and Geoplanidae (Geoplaninae, Caenoplaninae and Pelmatoplaninae) are detailed in Systematic Account on the various taxa. Previous taxonomical studies of Taiwan land planarians are discussed. Based on material collected by Lue in 1982-1985, Lee in 2002, and Wu, Tsai and Lin in 2002, this preliminary study identified a total of 18 species: one species of Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 and 13 species of Diversibipalium from the family Bipaliidae, one species from the family Rhynchodemidae; two species from the subfamily Caenoplaninae, family Geoplanidae and one species of Australopacifica from the subfamily Caenoplaninae, family Geoplanidae. For each species, the material examined, description, distribution in Taiwan, remarks and specimen figures (if available) are provided in order to promote further studies on the Taiwanese land planarian fauna.