Animalia > Platyhelminthes > Prolecithophora

Prolecithophora

Wikipedia Abstract

Prolecithophora is an order consisting of an estimated 300 species of small (typically 0.2 – 12 mm, one species up to 50 mm), active, aquatic flatworms. The order lacks a common English name. Most species are shaped like an elongated, stylized droplet, and are opaque white or yellow; they frequently have contrasting bands or spots in colors such as purple, yellow, red, or brown. They have zero to three (normally two) pairs of pigment-cup eyes, and well-developed tactile and chemoreceptor senses. With few exceptions, species are protandric hermaphrodites with internal fertilization. Egg capsules are, according to species, glued to various hard surfaces; the young hatch as miniature copies of their parents. (Karling, 1940)
View Wikipedia Record: Prolecithophora

Family

Multipeniatidae (4)
Plagiostomidae (38)
Protomonotresidae (Flatworm) (14)
Pseudostomidae (57)
Scleraulophoridae (3)

(...) = Species count
(...) = Endangered count
(...) = Invasive count

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0