Dalytyphloplanida (Platyhelminthes: Rhabdocoela) from Andalusia, Spain, with the description of four new species

Abstract

Nineteen taxa of Dalytyphloplanida Willems et al., 2006 collected from southwestern Andalusia are discussed. Although most taxa were found in freshwater, three are marine, one occurred in brackish water and Protoplanella simplex Reisinger, 1924 was even collected in a dry, limnoterrestrial habitat. Four taxa are new to science. Castrada purgatorialis n. sp., Castrada paradisea n. sp. and Strongylostoma devleeschouweri n. sp., all belong to the Typhloplanidae Graff, 1905. The first two species differ from other species of Castrada Schmidt, 1861 by the presence of a large accessory bursa and the morphology of the copulatory atrium. C. purgatorialis n. sp. has zoochlorellae while these are lacking in C. paradisea n. sp. Strongylostoma devleeschouweri n. sp. is unique because of its coalescing testes and because of the presence of a sphincter around the stalk of the seminal receptacle. Gieysztoria iberica n. sp. belongs to the Dalyelliidae Graff, 1905 and is characterized by the extreme length of the girdle of the stylet. Except for five taxa, all specimens were collected within the boundaries of the Do ana National Park. Most of the taxa could easily be identified to species level except for one taxon of Kytorhynchidae Rieger, 1974 and one species of Phaenocora Ehrenberg, 1836. Four species are new for the Iberian Peninsula. Three of these, Trigonostomum penicillatum (Schmidt, 1857) Micoletzky, 1910, Promesostoma maculosum Ax, 1956 and Gieysztoria macrovariata (Weise, 1942) Ruebush & Hayes, 1939, were already known from other European localities, whereas Parapharyngiella involucrum Willems et al., 2005, a marine species, has previously only been found in Zanzibar, Tanzania.