Order Prolecithophora Karling, 1940

Description

Mostly small turbellarians, with sac-like gut and either a pharynx plicatus or pharynx variabilis. Germinal tissue follicular or compact, eggs ectolecithal, ovary and testes compact or diffuse, and vitellaria diffuse; male pore anterior to female but opening into a common pore. Free-living and symbiotic, freshwater and marine.

Suborders

COMBINATA - With tubular pharynx plicatus. With a common oral-genital opening, oocytes and vitellaria not fully separated, often with female accessory organs and a vaginal pore.

SEPARATA - Pharynx not tubular, usually variabilis. With separate mouth and genital openings. Ovary and vitellaria fully separate, without female accessory organs.

Remarks

For convenience the Combinata is divided into two groups which probably have little phylogenetic relevance.

Superfamilies

Opisthoporata (Combinata)
Proporata (Combinata)


Families

Baicalarctiidae Friedmann, 1926 (Separata)
Multipeniatidae Nasonov, 1927 (Separata)
Plagiostomidae Graff, 1908 (Separata)
Ulianiniidae Karling, 1963 (Separata)

Remarks

A clear concept of this group is lacking. Ax (1984) preferred to leave the group incertae sedis after the work of Ehlers (1984). Karling (1940) gave some perspective of the group as it was then viewed.

This group is not well defined and ongoing research is changing and will likely continue to change taxon bounderies. Timoshkin (1986), for example, suggested removal of the Baicalarctiidae from the Separata and incorporating this taxon as a subfamily Baicalarctiinae within the Protomonotresidae with the addition of a new genus Friedmaniella Timoshkin and Zaborskaya, 1985. The remaining genera he included in the subfamily Protomonotresinae, but removed Prolecithoplana to its own family Prolecithoplanidae. As well he suggested that Acanthiella Rieger and Sterrer, 1975 be placed in a new family Acanthiellidae. Also Hyra (1993) claimed the symbiotic groups Urastomidae and Hypotrichinidae (which correctly should be Genostomidae since the type genus is Genostoma and not Hypotrichina) should be removed to the Rhabdocoela. Furthermore, Jondelius (in press) erected a new family Torgeidae (Separata) with "gonopore separate from the mouth, in mid-body" for his new genus Torgea Jondelius, in press.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria
Order Prolecithophora

Sorry, there are no scientific synonyms and common names available for this taxon

Ax, P., 1984. Das Phylogenetische System. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart.

Ehlers, U., 1984. Phylogenetic relationships within the Platyhelminthes. In Conway Morris, S., George, J.C., Gibson, R. and Platt, H.M. (Eds.) The Origins and Relationships of Lower Invertebrates. Systematics Association Special Volume. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Hyra, G.S., 1993. Genostoma kozloffi sp. nov. and G. inopinatum sp. nov. (Turbellaria: Neorhabdocoela: Genostomidae) from leptostracan crustacean of the genus Nebalia. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 34:111-126.

Jondelius, U., in press. A new family and three new species of flatworms from the Darwin harbour area. Beagle.

Karling, T.G., 1940. Zur Morphologie und Systematik der Alloeocoela Cumulata und Rhabdocoela Lecithophora (Turbellaria). Acta Zoologica Fennica 26:1-260.

Timoshkin, O.A., 1986. [Peculiarities of the structure and taxonomic position of the Prolecithophora from Baikal Lake (Turbellaria).] Zoologichesky Zhurnal lxv:16-27.

Timoshkin, O.A. and T.N. Zabrovskaya, 1985. [A new genus of Turbellaria (Prolecithophora)- Friedmaniella.] Fauna Bajk. 1 1985: 11-28.

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