Fletchamia

Fletchamia is a genus of land planarians from Australia.

Fletchamia
Fletchamia sugdeni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Platyhelminthes
Class:	Rhabditophora
Order:	Tricladida
Suborder:	Continenticola
Family:	Geoplanidae
Subfamily:	Rhynchodeminae
Tribe:	Caenoplanini
Genus:	Fletchamia Winsor, 1991
Type species
Geoplana quinquelineata J. J. Fletcher & A. G. Hamilton, 1888

Description

The genus Fletchamia is characterized by having an elongate and subcylindrical body with a creeping sole that occupies from 50 to 70% of the body with. The eyes form a single row around the anterior tip, are crowded antero-laterally and continue posteriorly in two to three staggered rows. The parenchymal musculature is weak and includes a loose ring zone of circulo-oblique fibers and a weak ventral plate of longitudinal fibers. The copulatory apparatus lacks a permanent penis, but some species may have a rudimentary penis papilla. The female atrium communicates posteriorly with a diverticulum.[1]

Etymology

The name Fletchamia is a portmanteau of the surnames of Joseph James Fletcher (Fletc-) and Alexander Greenlaw Hamilton (-hami-) and commemorates their contributions to the knowledge of Australian land planarians.[1]

Species

The genus Fletchamia includes the following species:

• Fletchamia dakini (Dendy, 1915)
• Fletchamia flavilineata (Dendy, 1915)
• Fletchamia fuscodorsalis (Steel, 1901)
• Fletchamia mediolineata (Dendy, 1891)
• Fletchamia mmahoni (Dendy, 1891)
• Fletchamia quinquelineata (J. J. Fletcher & A. G. Hamilton, 1888)
• Fletchamia sudgeni (Dendy, 1891)

References

1. Winsor, L. (1991). "A provisional classification of Australian terrestrial geoplanid flatworms (Tricladida: Terricola: Geoplanidae)". Victorian Naturalist. 109 (2): 42–49.