''Cura fortis'' is a species of freshwater
planarian
A planarian is one of the many flatworms of the traditional class Turbellaria. It usually describes free-living flatworms of the order Tricladida (triclads), although this common name is also used for a wide number of free-living platyhelmint ...
belonging to the family
Dugesiidae
Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater planarians distributed worldwide (except Antarctica). The type genus is ''Dugesia'' Girard, 1850.Ball, I. R.: A contribution to the phylogeny and biogeography of the freshwater triclads (Platyhelminthes: Tur ...
.
It is found in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Etymology
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
is derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, meaning "firm". This is in reference to the species' large penial papilla.
[Sluys, R, & Kawakatsu, Masaharu. (2001)]
Contribution to an inventory of the freshwater planarians of Australia and New Zealand (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)
with distribution maps of the species examined. ''Beaufortia'', ''51''(10), 163–198.
Description
''Cura fortis'' is about eight millimeters long and 3.5 mm wide. It can range from a dark brown to reddish color on its backside, and its underside is a dark grey with black spots. Its eyes are set in unpigmented patches.
References
Animals described in 2001
Dugesiidae
Worms of New Zealand
{{Flatworm-stub