Notoplana australis ( Schmarda, 1859 )

Rodríguez, Jorge, Hutchings, Pat A. & Williamson, Jane E., 2021, Biodiversity of intertidal marine flatworms (Polycladida, Platyhelminthes) in southeastern Australia, Zootaxa 5024 (1), pp. 1-63 : 41

Notoplana australis ( Schmarda, 1859)

( Fig. 15 )

? Dioncus badius Stimpson, 1855: 389 .

? Dioncus oblongus Stimpson, 1855: 389 .

? Polycelis australis Schmarda, 1859: 21 , pl. IV, fig. 45.

Leptoplana badia Stimpson, 1857: 4–11 .

Leptoplana australis Schmarda, 1859: 21 , pl. IV, fig. 45.

Leptoplana australis Laidlaw, 1904a: 3 , text fig. 2.

Notoplana australis Laidlaw, 1904a: 3 , text fig. 2.

Leptoplana suteri Jacubowa, 1906: 150 , pl. 10, figs 7–9; pl. 11, fig. 6.

Notoplana australis Bock, 1913: 205–207 , text fig. 40.

Material examined: Several specimens, one sagittally sectioned. AM W.51324 (10 slides); AM W.51336, W.51337, W.51338, W.51339, W.53215 (wet material). Specimens were collected from Australia, New South Wales: Shelly Beach, Eden, 37°04’22.0”S, 149°54’45.6”E. Coll. Jorge Rodriguez, Jane Williamson, Patrick Burke, Louise Tosetto and Ryan Nevatte, July 10 th, 2018. Victoria: Cape Paterson, 38°40’28.6”S, 145°37’16.5”E. Coll. Jorge Rodriguez, March 25 th, 2019 and Cats Bay, Phillip Island, 38°30’24.6”S, 145°07’33.8”E. Coll. Jorge Rodriguez, Patrick Burke and Louise Tosetto , July 12 th, 2018. Additional material from Australia, New South Wales, Long Reef from the collections of the Australian Museum : AM W.3691. Additional material from Australia, South Australia, Bird Bay from the collections of the South Australian Museum : AHC.42639–42645 .

Remarks: The studied specimens agreed with the descriptions given by Haswell (1907), Bock (1913), Hyman (1959) and Prudhoe (1982). As noted by Haswell (1907) and Prudhoe (1982), Notoplana australis appeared to be a quite common polyclad on the southeastern Australian coasts. Although not as widely distributed as Echinoplana celerrima , more than 30 specimens were found on a single day at Eden (New South Wales) and it was also quite common (~ 20 specimens) around Inverloch (Victoria). The colouration of the dorsal surface varied from different shades of brown, orange, olive-grey, greenish grey to almost black as stated by both Hyman (1959) and Prudhoe (1982). Regarding the internal anatomy, the male copulatory system consists of a seminal vesicle, an interpolated prostatic vesicle with chambered glandular epithelium and a penis armed with a long and slender stylet. Hyman (1959) remarks on the presence of numerous convolutions in the vagina that correspond to the morphology present in the studied specimen.

Molecular remarks: Notoplana australis appeared most closely related to another specimen of the same species from Port Phillip Bay, Victoria sequenced by Litvaitis et al. (2019) with high support (100/1.00). The N. australis clade appeared inside another one including Amyris hummelincki , Leptoplana tremellaris and Notoplana felis sp. nov. with low support (68/0.76) and appearing as a polytomy in the BI analysis. The genus Notoplana appeared as paraphyletic with N. delicata and N. atomata more closely related to the Notocomplana clade and N. queruca clustering with Notocomplana ferruginea in a separate clade.

Distribution: Australia: Victoria, Port Phillip (Laidlaw 1904, type locality), New South Wales, Port Jackson ( Haswell 1907), Jervis Bay ( Haswell 1907), Long Reef, near Collaroy ( Hyman 1959), South Australia, Jones Island, Bird Bay ( Prudhoe 1982), Daly Head, Yorke Peninsula ( Prudhoe 1982), Brown Point, Yorke Peninsula ( Prudhoe 1982), Wittelbee Point ( Prudhoe 1982), American River Inlet, Kangaroo Island ( Prudhoe 1982), Port Noarlunga, St. Vincent Gulf ( Prudhoe 1982), Tipara Reef, Spencer Gulf ( Prudhoe 1982), Tasmania ( Haswell 1907); New Zealand: Lyttleton Harbour northwards to Auckland Harbour ( Schmarda 1859; Jacubowa 1906; Haswell 1907), North Island ( Holleman 2007).

Figures

FIGURE 15. Notoplana australis (Schmarda, 1859). A–B. Dorsal view of live specimens. C. Ventral view of a fixed specimen, treated with a clearing agent. D. Arrangement of the eyes. E. Sagittal reconstruction of the reproductive system. F. Histological sections of the reproductive system.