Baicalellia evelinae Marcus, 1946

João A. L. Braccini, Francisco Brusa & Ana M. Leal-Zanchet, 2017, Six freshwater microturbellarian species (Platyhelminthes) in permanent wetlands of the Coastal Plain of southern Brazil: new records, abundance, and distribution, Check List 13 (6), pp. 849-855 : 853-854

Baicalellia evelinae Marcus, 1946

Figures 10, 11A, B

General morphology. Body 3 times longer than wide (body length to 0.6 mm), with rounded anterior and posterior tips ( Figs 10, 11A ). The pharynx measures up to 0.15 mm and shows pharyngeal tentacles forming an inverted cone towards the mouth. The male reproductive system consists of a pair of testes, a spherical seminal vesicle, and a C-shaped penis. The latter is constituted by a sclerotized tube, about 50 µm long, with a broad basis, gradually narrowing towards the tip ( Fig. 11B ). The female reproductive system shows a “bursa seminalis” located between the ovaries, and the uterus with an intestinal connection. The uterus contained 2 egg capsules, each with 2 eggs ( Fig. 11A ).

Specimens examined. MZU 00206: coll. J .A.L. Braccini and F . Brusa, 26 March 2012, Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Tramandaí (30°05ʹ09ʺ S, 050°10ʹ24ʺ W) .

Remarks on ecology and distribution. This species had moderate abundance in the winter/spring survey but was absent in the summer/autumn survey ( Table 2 ). Baicalellia evelinae was previously reported from 3 localities in the state of São Paulo ( Marcus 1946). The current record represents a southeastern range extension of about 800 km.

Figures

Figures10–13.Photographs of specimensinvivoafter squeezepreparation (10,12)and diagrammaticreconstructions (11, 13) in dorsal viewofspeciesofDalytyphloplanidarecordedfortheCoastalPlainofsouthernBrazil.10,11.Baicalelliaevelinae.12,13.Gieysztoriachiqchi. Detailsofthepenisstyletareshownin11Band13B.