@article {288,
	title = {Predatory behavior of the land flatworm Notogynaphallia abundans (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida)},
	journal = {Zoologia},
	volume = {26},
	number = {4},
	year = {2009},
	pages = {606-612},
	chapter = {606},
	abstract = {<p>Land flatworms are carnivorous, mainly predators. However, knowledge on their predatory behavior and prey preference is very scarce. This paucity of data is a limiting factor in the study of their biology and organismal ecology, resulting in a very difficult task to breed them in the laboratory for prolonged periods if prey preference and predation frequency are unknown. We investigated the predatory behavior of Notogynaphallia abundans (Graff, 1899), Geoplaninae, based on laboratory experiments. In order to determine its predatory choices, we offered mollusks, earthworms, arthropods, and other land flatworms. Only land isopods were accepted, with an average consumption of 3.4 individuals per week. Linear regression showed a positive relationship between the number of consumed isopods and the increase/decrease in body mass. Consumption resulting in an increase in body mass was ca. four isopods per week. Predatory behavior, with a mean time-span of 28 min 45 s \&plusmn; 15 min 47 s, includes encounter and capture of prey, immobilization, handling and feeding. Variation in the duration of this activity in N. abundans is clearly due to variations in the time necessary for transferring the prey from either the anterior or posterior thirds of the body to the mouth, as well as for external digestion and ingestion. In order to capture very active and fast-moving animals such as land isopods, N. abundans employs various strategies, using either the anterior or the posterior body regions to press the prey against the ground or against its own body, thus allowing it to deal with various responses by the prey, and thereby maximizing predatory success. Similar to other flatworms, both physical holding and entrapment in a mucous secretion are of fundamental importance for prey-immobilization. The different strategies employed by land flatworms in their predatory behavior are discussed, and behavioral plasticity in the capture and immobilization of prey in different platyhelminth groups is emphasized.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1590/S1984-46702009005000011},
	author = {Prasniski, M. E. T. and Leal-Zanchet, Ana M.}
}
@article {178,
	title = {A new genus for seven Brazilian land planarian species, split off from Notogynaphallia (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida).},
	journal = {Belg. J. Zool.},
	volume = {140 (Suppl)},
	year = {2010},
	pages = {91-101},
	author = {Carbayo, F.}
}
@article {753,
	title = {Carnivore mollusks as natural enemies of invasive land flatworms},
	journal = {Annals of Applied Biology},
	volume = {161},
	number = {2},
	year = {2012},
	pages = {127-131},
	abstract = {<p>There are several records of the carnivorous behaviour of land flatworms, considered to be top-predators in their micro-habitats, by preying upon various species of invertebrates. However, there is little knowledge of predators on land-flatworms. The possible impact of invasive land flatworms on prey populations has caused widespread concern, when considering their predatory behaviour, combined with recent human influence on the distribution of certain species. This work is the first record of predation on land flatworms by a carnivorous snail. Various-sized land flatworms of 10 native species of the subfamily Geoplaninae, as well as the exotic species Bipalium kewense (subfamily Bipaliinae), were offered to Rectartemon depressus (Gastropoda, Streptaxidae), which accepted all. The predator also fed on the snail Bradybaena similaris. The snails were maintained in laboratory for an average period of 12?months based on a mixed diet of flatworms and B. similaris, suggesting that the snail is a polyphagous predator. Because certain land-flatworm species have been described as invasive species which may have a potential impact on prey populations in native and man-made ecosystems, it is proposed that carnivorous snails of other native species, as potential predators of flatworms, should be tested for possible use in biological control programmes of these invasive planarians.</p>
},
	issn = {0003-4746},
	doi = {10.1111/j.1744-7348.2012.00556.x},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-7348.2012.00556.x/abstract},
	author = {Lemos, V. S. and Canello, R. and Leal-Zanchet, A. M.}
}
