The taxonomic status of Dugesia biblica from Israel and Turkey (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)

By

Solà, Eduard
Sluys, Ronald
Segev, Ori
Blaustein, Leon, 1953-2020
Riutort, Marta

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

506

Pages

1-12

Subjects

Biogeography , COI , Dugesia , Haplotype , Israel , karyology , Morphology , Platyhelminthes , synonymy , taxonomy , Tricladida , Turkey

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.506.9663

 

Abstract

The taxonomic status of Dugesia biblica (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae) from Israel and Turkey is problematic due to its morphological similarity with D. sicula since these nominal species present overlapping characters. In this study we analyzed histological preparations of specimens of these two nominal species and also compared mitochondrial COI gene sequences from Israeli populations to the already known haplotype composition of D. sicula. We concluded that these animals belong to the same species and therefore we consider D. biblica to be a junior synonym of D. sicula. This implies that the distribution range of D. sicula is even wider than previously thought, and that the species is present all around the Mediterranean Basin and on many of its islands.