Schmidtea mediterranea Benazzi, Baguñà, Ballester, Puccinelli & Del Papa, 1975

Stocchino, Giacinta Angela, 2018, 80 years of research on planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) from Sardinia, Italy: an annotated checklist, Zootaxa 4532 (4), pp. 539-552 : 543

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4532.4.5
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:807B317B-D883-439F-97B9-B0C0F09D9666
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5988968
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/C45EE309-B11C-FFF1-66FB-FB1B131DF93E
treatment provided by	Plazi (2019-03-28 15:58:19, last updated 2024-11-26 06:04:37)
scientific name	Schmidtea mediterranea Benazzi, Baguñà, Ballester, Puccinelli & Del Papa, 1975
status

Treatment

Schmidtea mediterranea Benazzi, Baguñà, Ballester, Puccinelli & Del Papa, 1975 View in CoL

Schmidtea mediterranea View in CoL is a species exclusively distributed in the western Mediterranean area, with both asexual (Catalan coast, Menorca and Mallorca) and sexual populations ( Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and Tunisia) (cf. Lazaro et al., 2011 and references therein). The asexual planarians bear a heteromorphic translocation affecting one member of the 1 st and 3 rd pair of chromosomes. Besides sexual and asexual diploid populations, two triploid populations are also known. A sexual eutriploid population has been reported from a single Sardinian locality, while an aneutriplod asexual population was found in Menorca, the latter bearing a translocation between the 1 st and 3 rd chromosomes (only one chromosome of each triplet) ( Benazzi et al., 1975; Casu et al., 1982; De Vries et al., 1984; Manconi et al., 1995; Pala & Casu, 1995; Baguñà et al., 1999; Lazaro et al., 2011).

Populations of S. mediterranea View in CoL are mainly distributed in the northern part of Sardinia and inhabit permanent water courses ( Benazzi et al., 1975; Pala et al., 1980b; Casu et al., 1982; Vacca et al., 1993). However, three new populations were found inhabiting ephemeral waters. Planarians were found in two temporary ponds in the Giara di Gesturi (Pauli Perdosu) and in the Giara di Tuili high basaltic plateau localized in the central-southern Sardinia. A third population was found inhabiting a very small ephemeral stream near the Sa Ucca e’ su Peltusu Cave in northwestern Sardinia ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 ). Although no cocoons were found in the field, specimens mated and laid fertile cocoons under laboratory conditions (G.A. Stocchino pers. obs.).

References

Baguna, J., Carranza, S., Pala, M., Ribera, C., Giribet, G., Arredo, M. A., Ribas, M. & Riutort, M. (1999) From morphology to molecules. New methods for taxonomical identification of asexual populations of freshwater planarians. A tribute to Professor Mario Benazzi. Italian Journal of Zoology, 66, 207 - 214. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 11250009909356258

Benazzi, M., Baguna, J., Ballester, R., Puccinelli, I. & Del Papa, R. (1975) Further contribution to the taxonomy of the Dugesia lugubris-polychroa group with description of Dugesia mediterranea n. sp. (Tricladida, Paludicola). Bollettino di Zoologia, 42 (1), 81 - 89. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 11250007509430132

Casu, S., Pala, M. & Vacca, R. A. (1982) Distribuzione geografica in Sardegna di planarie d'acqua dolce appartenenti alle specie Dugesia (S.) polychroa e Dugesia (S.) mediterranea (Turbellaria, Tricladida). Bollettino della Societa Sarda di Scienze Naturali, 21, 177 - 184.

De Vries, E. J., Baguna, J. & Ball, J. (1984) Chromosomal polymorphism in planarians and the plate tectonics of the western Mediterranean. Genetica, 62, 187 - 191. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / BF 00056435

Lazaro, E. M., Harrath, A. H., Stocchino, G. A., Pala, M., Baguna, J. & Riutort, M. (2011) Schmidtea mediterranea phylogeography: an old species surviving on a few Mediterranean islands? BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11, 274. https: // doi. org / 10.1186 / 1471 - 2148 - 11 - 274

Manconi, R., Deriu A. & Cubeddu, T. (1995) Fauna bentonica di piccoli corsi d'acqua dolce di tre isole circum-sarde. Lavori della Societa Italiana di Biogeographia, 18, 219 - 228.

Pala, M., Casu, S. & Vacca, R. A. (1980 b) Primi dati sulla distribuzione geografica di planarie del gruppo Dugesia lugubrispolychroa (Turbellaria, Tricladida) in Sardegna, con particolare riguardo alla presenza di una mutazione tetraploide nel fiume Cixerri (Siliqua, Cagliari). Bollettino della Societa Sarda di Scienze Naturali, 19, 183 - 188.

Pala, M. & Casu, S. (1995) Tricladi dulciacqucoli (Platyhelminthes, Turbellaria) delle isole circum-sarde. Lavori della Societa Italiana di Biogeographia, 18, 199 - 204.

Vacca, R. A., Casu, S. & Pala, M. (1993) Popolamento planariologico dei fiumi del Nord Sardegna. II. I cariotipi dei Tricladi d'acqua dolce rinvenuti nel bacino idrografico del fiume Coghinas. Bollettino della Societa Sarda di Scienze Naturali, 29, 59 - 73.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Geographic distribution of species of the genus Schmidtea and Girardia recorded from Sardinia. 1, Rio Fiume Santo; 2, Rio Mannu di Portotorres; 3, Rio S. Miali; 4, Fiume Silis; 5, Rio Pedrasdefogu; 6, Rio Lu Bagnu; 7, Fiume Coghinas; 8, Rio S. Stefano, Caprera Island National Park; 9, Rio Cuga; 10, Rio Calvia; 11, Fiume Temo; 12, unnamed temporary rivulet near Su Peltusu Cave; 13, Rio Fraigada; 14, Fiume Tirso; 15, Rio di Siniscola; 16, Rio Berchida; 17, unnamed rivulet affluent of Rio Mannu di Milis; 18, temporary pond of Giara di Tuili; 19, Pauli Perdosu temporary pond of Giara di Gesturi; 20, Rio Mannu di Cagliari; 21, Rio Flumentepido. New records are indicated by asterisks.