Arthurdendyus triangulatus
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Arthurdendyus triangulatus , head on the right |
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| Arthurdendyus triangulatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Dendy , 1894) |
Arthurdendyus triangulatus (until 1999: Artioposthia triangulata ) is the land planarians scoring (Geoplanidae) Strudelwurm , originally in New Zealand native and from earthworms fed. It has been introduced by humans to Great Britain ,among other places, where it has beenlinkedas an invasive species to the decline in earthworm populations.
features
The flatworm becomes about 5 cm to 20 cm long and 5 mm to 10 mm wide, but it can stretch to double its length when crawling and thus becomes narrower. The head end of the worm is narrow and tapering to a point, while the tail end is broad. There are numerous pinpoint eyes on the head. The top of the body is dark brown with a light brown, dark brown dotted border, the underside also light brown with dark brown dots. The color can also vary towards gray or black. The entire flatworm is covered in sticky mucus. At rest, the flatworm is usually rolled up and forms a roll only about 2 cm to 4 cm in size.
Life cycle
Arthurdendyus triangulatus is, like all strudelworms, a hermaphrodite , with two animals presumably fertilizing each other internally . The animals lay about 5 mm large, shiny black egg capsules containing 1 to 14, on average 6 young animals. An egg capsule can be laid every two weeks. They can be laid all year round, but this happens especially in spring. After 2 to 3 months, pale young animals 6 mm to 8 mm long hatch.
Habitat and Distribution
Arthurdendyus triangulatus is native to New Zealand where it lives naturally in forest floors. You can also find it in gardens and greenhouses.
The flatworm was first observed in Northern Ireland and Scotland in the early 1960s . There was massive occurrence in Northern Ireland and central Scotland in the 1980s, with early reports from England and Wales.
food
Arthurdendyus triangulatus almost exclusively eats earthworms . While there are still stable earthworm populations in his native New Zealand, these have collapsed in large parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland since the 1980s.
The flatworm lives underground in the tunnels of earthworms. It wraps around its prey, everts its trunk-like throat ( pharynx ) and digests it with the help of digestive enzymes before it is sucked in through the mouth opening on the abdomen.
literature
- Hugh D. Jones: British land flatworms . British Wildlife, February 2005. pp. 189-194. Arthurdendyus triangulatus: p. 192f. and ill. p. 190. PDF
- Inger Weidema (2006): NOBANIS - Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet - Arthurdendyus triangulatus . Online Database of the North European and Baltic Network on Invasive Alien Species - NOBANIS www.nobanis.org. PDF
Web links
- New Zealand Flatworm, Arthurdendyus triangulatus . GB Non-native species secretariat, 2015.