@article {735, title = {A new freshwater planarian from West Bengal, India (Turbellaria; Tricladida; Paludicola)}, journal = {Bulletin of the Biogeographical Society of Japan}, volume = {38}, year = {1983}, pages = {3-10}, abstract = {

A new species of the genus Dugesia (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Paludicola) from West Bengal, India, is described: Dugesia bengalensis Kawakatsu, sp. nov. The present new species seems to be nearly related to D. indica, D. tamilensis, D. nannophalus, D. andamanensis, D. burmaensis, and D. siamana. D. bengalensis differs from the related species in the details of the genital anatomy. Its basic karyotypes consist of 7 pairs of meta- or submetacentric chromosomes and one pair of subtelocentric ones (n = 8; 2x = 16).

}, author = {Masaharu Kawakatsu and Oki, Iwashiro and Tamura, Sachiko and Takao Yamayoshi and A. K. Aditya} } @article {14, title = {The genus Dugesia in Australia, with its phylogenetic analysis and historical biogeography (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)}, journal = {Zoologica Scripta}, volume = {27}, year = {1998}, pages = {273-289}, chapter = {273}, abstract = {

The new species Dugesia notogaea Sluys \& Kawakatsu, sp. n. is described from Queensland, Australia, representing the first record of the genus Dugesia for that continent. A phylogenetic analysis of the 68 species of Dugesia resulted in the discovery of a new apomorphy for the genus, and a cladogram showing two major phyletic groups. The distributional range of one group has a western accent, whereas that of the other group has an eastern emphasis; the ranges of these two groups overlap in Africa and the Mediterranean region. We attempt to determine the ancestral area for both the Dugesiidae and Dugesia. A scenario for the historical biogeography of the genus Dugesia is discussed. In this scenario it is presumed that the geological history of the Australasian region enabled Dugesia\’s from southeast Asia to colonize northern Australia.

}, doi = {10.1111/j.1463-6409.1998.tb00461.x}, url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1998.tb00461.x/abstract}, author = {Ronald Sluys and Masaharu Kawakatsu and Leigh Winsor} } @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} }