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Bipalium
''Bipalium'' is a genus of large predatory land planarians. They are often loosely called "hammerhead worms" or "broadhead planarians" because of the distinctive shape of their head region. Land planarians are unique in that they possess a "creeping sole", a highly ciliated region on the ventral epidermis that helps them to creep over the substrate. Several species are considered invasive to the United States, Canada, and to Europe. Some studies have begun the investigation of the evolutionary ecology of these invasive planarians. Etymology The name ''Bipalium'' comes from Latin ''bi-'', "two" + ''pala'', "shovel" or "spade", because species in this genus resemble a pickaxe. Description The genus ''Bipalium'' was initially defined by Stimpson to include land planarians with the head broadened, forming a head plate. Later, in 1899, Ludwig von Graff divided it into three genera according to the shape of the head: #''Bipalium'': with a well-developed head plate, much broader ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bipalium Kewense
''Bipalium kewense'' is a species of large predatory land planarian with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is sometimes referred to as a "hammerhead flatworm" due to its half-moon-shaped head, but this name is also used to refer to other species in the subfamily Bipaliinae. Description ''Bipalium kewense'' is a very long land planarian. Preserved specimens are up to 20 centimetres in length, and living specimens may be longer. The anterior end ("head") is expanded in a transversal semilunate shape and the body is the narrowest just behind the head, in a region called "neck". The dorsal color is light-brown with five black to grey longitudinal stripes that begin at the neck. The median and marginal stripes are narrow and black, very distinctly marked. The lateral stripes (between the median and marginal stripes) are usually grey, broad and with diffuse margins. The neck is usually marked by an incomplete black collar formed by the union of the marginal and lateral stripes, this b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bipalium Fuscatum
''Bipalium fuscatum'' is a species of land planarian first described by William Stimpson William Stimpson (February 14, 1832 – May 26, 1872) was a noted American scientist. He was interested particularly in marine biology. Stimpson became an important early contributor to the work of the Smithsonian Institution and later, direc ... in 1857. This hammerhead flatworm may be able to survive for days in a human lung as a pseudoparasite. References Geoplanidae Animals described in 1857 {{flatworm-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novibipalium
''Novibipalium'' is a genus of land planarians of the subfamily Bipaliinae (hammerhead flatworms). Description Species of ''Novibipalium'' are very similar to those of the related genus ''Bipalium''. The main difference occurs in the copulatory apparatus, which in ''Novibipalium'' lacks a well-developed penis papilla, while in ''Bipalium'' a penis papilla is present. ''Novibipalium'' has a set of folds in the copulatory apparatus that are everted during mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproduc ... and create a temporary penis. Species The genus ''Novibipalium'' contains the following species: *'' Novibipalium alterifuscatum'' Kawakatsu, Ogren & Froehlich, 1998 *'' Novibipalium falsifuscatum'' Kawakatsu, Ogren & Froehlich, 1998 *'' Novibipalium miyukiae'' Kawakats ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Land Planarian
Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms. These flatworms are mainly predators of other invertebrates, which they hunt, attack and capture using physical force and the adhesive and digestive properties of their mucus. They lack water-retaining mechanisms and are therefore very sensitive to humidity variations of their environment. Because of their strict ecological requirements, some species have been proposed as indicators of the conservation state of their habitats. They are generally animals with low vagility (dispersal ability) and with very specific habitat requirements, so they can be also used to accurately determine the distribution of biogeographic realms. Today the fauna of these animals is being studied to select conservation priorities in the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil. At the other extreme, one species in this family, ''Platydemus manokwari'' has become an invasive species in both disturbed and wild habitats in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovered in these fish and found in several other animals (e.g., in blue-ringed octopuses, rough-skinned newts, and moon snails), it is actually produced by certain infecting or symbiotic bacteria like ''Pseudoalteromonas'', ''Pseudomonas'', and ''Vibrio'' as well as other species found in animals. Tetrodotoxin is a sodium channel blocker. It inhibits the firing of action potentials in neurons by binding to the voltage-gated sodium channels in nerve cell membranes and blocking the passage of sodium ions (responsible for the rising phase of an action potential) into the neuron. This prevents the nervous system from carrying messages and thus muscles from contracting in response to nervous stimulation. Its mechanism of action, selective blocking o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humbertium
''Humbertium'' is a genus of land planarians of the subfamily Bipaliinae (hammerhead flatworms). Description Species of ''Humbertium'' are characterized by the presence of a well developed penis papilla in the copulatory apparatus, similar to the one in ''Bipalium'', but with the ovovitelloducts entering the female atrium anteriorly and not posteriorly as in ''Bipalium''. Etymology The genus ''Humbertium'' is named after the Swiss naturalist Aloïs Humbert who described several species from Sri Lanka that are now classified in the genus. Species The genus ''Humbertium'' contains the following species: *'' Humbertium core'' (de Beauchamp, 1930) *''Humbertium covidum ''Humbertium covidum'' is a species of predatory land flatworm, found in France and Italy. The Holotype specimen is MNHN JL351B. Description ''H. covidum'' is a small hammerhead flatworm, about in length. The dorsal face is completely metalli ...'' Justine, Gastineau, Gros, Gey, Ruzzier, Charles & Winso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diversibipalium
''Diversibipalium'' is a genus of land planarians of the subfamily Bipaliinae (hammerhead flatworms). It was erected to include species lacking sufficient morphological information to allow them to be classified in the appropriate genus. Taxonomy During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, many land planarian species were described based solely on external characters. Currently, the genera of land planarians are highly based on their internal anatomy, especially the anatomy of the copulatory apparatus. As a result, species with old descriptions that were never redescribed, so that their internal anatomy remains unknown, cannot be assigned to the correct genus. Thus, the genus ''Diversibipalium'' was created to temporarily accommodate species of the subfamily Bipaliinae whose anatomy of the copulatory apparatus is still unknown. Species '' Diversibipalium multilineatum'' is a large-size invasive species, originally from Japan, now fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthurdendyus Triangulatus
The New Zealand flatworm (''Arthurdendyus triangulatus'') is a large land flatworm native to New Zealand. It can vary from 5 mm in length when hatched to approximately in mature adults. The New Zealand flatworm is considered an invasive species in parts of Europe. This species is included since 2019 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union. Description The ventral surface of the flatworm is a pale buff colour while the dorsal surface is dark brown. Young flatworms vary in colour from white to pale orange and develop their adult colouration as they grow. During the day, flatworms can be found resting on the surface of soil underneath objects in close contact with the ground. They may also be found beneath the soil surface hunting for earthworms. Reproduction involves the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flatworm
The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrates. Unlike other bilaterians, they are acoelomates (having no body cavity), and have no specialized circulatory and respiratory organ (anatomy), organs, which restricts them to having flattened shapes that allow oxygen and nutrients to pass through their bodies by diffusion. The digestive cavity has only one opening for both ingestion (intake of nutrients) and egestion (removal of undigested wastes); as a result, the food cannot be processed continuously. In traditional medicinal texts, Platyhelminthes are divided into Turbellaria, which are mostly non-parasitic animals such as planarians, and three entirely parasitic groups: Cestoda, Trematoda and Monogenea; however, since the turbellarians have since been prove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which either partner can act as the female or male. For example, the great majority of tunicata, tunicates, pulmonate molluscs, opisthobranch, earthworms, and slugs are hermaphrodites. Hermaphroditism is also found in some fish species and to a lesser degree in other vertebrates. Most plants are also hermaphrodites. Animal species having different sexes, male and female, are called Gonochorism, gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphrodite. There are also species where hermaphrodites exist alongside males (called androdioecy) or alongside females (called gynodioecy), or all three exist in the same species ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharynx
The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its structure varies across species. The pharynx carries food and air to the esophagus and larynx respectively. The flap of cartilage called the epiglottis stops food from entering the larynx. In humans, the pharynx is part of the digestive system and the conducting zone of the respiratory system. (The conducting zone—which also includes the nostrils of the nose, the larynx, trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles—filters, warms and moistens air and conducts it into the lungs). The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections: the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and laryngopharynx. It is also important in vocalization. In humans, two sets of pharyngeal muscles form the pharynx and determine the shape of its lumen. They are arranged as an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
