LAND PLANARIANS. 369 



with Australia, as the Polynesian genera have undergone 

 more alteration than those from Australia. 



2.— NOTES ON SOME LAND PLANARIANS FROM 

 TASMANIA AND SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



Bii ARTHUR DENDY, D.Sc, F.L.S., Dcmonsf rotor and As.^ixtant 

 Lecturer m Biolo(jy hi the Universiti/ of Melbourne. 



1. Introductory Remarks. 



The object of the present brief communication is not so 

 much to describe species of land Planarians from Tasmania 

 and South Austraha, as to point out to local naturalists the 

 desirability of investigating the Planarian fauna of these and 

 other Australian colonies. A large number of land Planarians 

 from New South Wales and Victoria have now been described 

 and figured by various authors, but, strange to say, only 

 a single species, the Geop/ana ( Plan aria J tasmanlana of 

 Darwin, has hitherto been recorded from Tasmania, and, so 

 far as I am aware, not even a single one from South Aus- 

 traha. Nevertheless, there is no reason to doubt that these 

 two colonies ])ossess as rich and varied a Planarian fauna, in 

 proportion to their extent, as either Victoria or New South 

 Wales, and it is a matter of considerable importance that 

 this fauna should be thoroughly investigated and compared 

 with that of the neighbouring colonies, so that we may thus 

 gain a valuable addition to our knowledge of the geographical 

 distribution and variation of these interesting worms. I 

 need hardly say that these remarks apply equall}- well to 

 Western Australia and Queensland, from which colonies local 

 naturalists might, I am certain, reap a rich harvest of land 

 Planarians. 



It is of especial importance that this subject should be 

 attacked immediately, for Professor von Graff, the great 

 German authority on Planarian worms, is engaged in pre- 

 paring an extensive Monograph of the group, and has already 

 commenced work on the terrestrial forms. I have been 

 in communication with Professor von Graff on the subject 

 for some time past, and have fortunately been able to send 

 him a large number of our Victorian species in response to 

 his request for material, and it would be a very great advan- 

 tage if the land Planarians of all the other Australasian 

 colonies could be investigated in time for the results to be 

 incorporated in Professor yon Graff's Monograph. 



