page_title: Geoplanidae
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Geoplanidae / Description
caption_attribution_description: L: ~10-15 cm Subfamily: Bipaliinae&#160;? (Arrowhead Flatworms) Family: Geoplanidae STIMPSON, 1857 (Land planarians) Superfamily Geoplanoidea STIMPSON, 1857 Suborder: Continenticola CARRANZA et al., 1998 (Syn.: Terricola; terrestrial flatworm, Landplanarie) Order: Tricladida LANG, 1884 (triclads) (Order: Seriata BRESSLAU, 1928-1933) Class: Turbellaria EHRENBERG, 1831 (turbellarian flatworms, Strudelwürmer) Phylum: Plathelminthes GEGENBAUR, 1859 (flatworm, Plattwürmer) more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoplanidae and: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricladida and: www.thefullwiki.org/Bipaliinae interesting overview: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in206 Soft, broad, ciliated bodies, a three-branched digestive cavity, and the ability to regenerate body parts; usually living in fresh water, only few species are terrestrial. Indonesia, Sulawesi-Central, Lore Lindo NP: Tambing Lake, ca. 1500m asl., 08.05.2010 _____________________________________________________________________ 100mm macro (canon 2.8), 1/160s, f/16, ISO100, 0EV, internal flash IMG_0890 (photo by Guido Bohne)
context_page_description: 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 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 Pacific Islands, and has damaged the endemic land snail fauna.
context_section_description: Land planarians are distinguished from their marine and freshwater relatives by their terrestrial habits, as well as by morphological distinctions. Some species have dull colors, including shades of brown and grey, that make them inconspicuous in their environment, but most species are marked by very colorful patterns. At first they may be confused with slugs or leeches, but they lack the anterior tentacles of slugs and the segmentation of leeches. Their size vary greatly, from a few millimeters in length to about one meter.
  The most distinguishing feature that characterizes land planarians is the presence of a creeping sole, a highly ciliated region on the ventral epidermis that helps them to creep over the substrate. The creeping sole may be wide and flat, occupying most of the ventral surface, or narrow and pronounced, being easily distinguished from the rest of the ventral surface.
caption: A colorful species of the subfamily Bipaliinae.
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