Caenoplana coerulea Moseley, 1877

Luna, Manuel De & Boll, Piter Kehoma, 2023, An annotated checklist of terrestrial flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida: Geoplanidae) from Mexico, with new records of invasive species from a citizen science platform and a new nomen dubium, Zootaxa 5297 (4), pp. 518-532 : 524-525

Caenoplana coerulea Moseley, 1877

Figs. 11, 12 , 26 .

External diagnosis ( Ogren 1989; Luis-Negrete et al. 2011). A medium-sized species, up to 8 cm. Dorsal ground color dark blue to purple, rarely brown; median stripe light, variable in color from pale yellow to cream and white. Anterior region reddish orange to pink but can be pale white. Ventral surface blue colored.The eyes extend in a single row around the anterior region, clustering anterolaterally and continuing posteriorly into a staggered submarginal row, but without extending dorsally.

The absence of a head plate differentiates it from both species of Bipalium . The large number of eyes differs much from Diporodemus yucatani , Rhynchodemus sylvaticus and both species of Dolichoplana , which only have two. The bluish color and the single and very conspicuous clear-colored median stripe distinguish it from all species of Caenoplanini found in the region.

iNaturalist records. MEXICO: CIUDAD DE MEXICO: 1 specimen observed 7 July 2017; 19.3206°N, - 99.1947°W; 2324m a.s.l.; uploaded by valkyrjan (#6956721) . 1 specimen observed 8 June 2021; 19.3312°N, - 99.2355°W; 2466m a.s.l.; uploaded by cesar_miranda (#91903520).

Figures

FIGURE 26. Map of Mexico pointing the iNaturalist records of the invasive terrestrial flatworms, excluding hammerhead flatworms (for those see de Luna et al. 2022): Caenoplana coerulea (blue circle), Dolichoplana carvalhoi (red hexagon), Dolichoplana striata (yellow hexagons), Endevouria septemlineata (orange squares), Parakontikia ventrolineata (green triangles), and Rhynchodemus sylvaticus (pink hexagon).

FIGURES 11–16. Illustrations of invasive species of Caenoplanini found in Mexico: dorsal (11) and ventral (12) aspect of Caenoplana coerulea; dorsal (13) and ventral (14) aspect of Endeavouria septemlineata; dorsal (15) and ventral (16) aspect of Parakontikia ventrolineata.