Obama nungara
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Obama nungara , front end left (dorsal view) |
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| Carbayo , Álvarez-Presas , Jones , Riutort 2016 |
Obama nungara is the land planarians counting Strudelwurm , originally from South America comes from and is spread by introduction in Western and Southern Europe.
characteristics
Obama nungara has a flat body that reaches a height of 1 to 2 millimeters and a body length of up to 70 millimeters and width of up to 5 millimeters when stretched. The front end is rounded and narrow, widens to about 1.5 centimeters behind the front end to the maximum body width, before the side edges run parallel to just before the rear end. At the rearmost centimeter, the width tapers towards a pointed end. The basic color of the slime-covered back is golden to honey yellow, on which many terra-brown to black dots are distributed, which, depending on the frequency, give the impression of a beige-brown to almost black back color and look like vertical stripes in light specimens. In addition, these pigment spots are more common towards the midline and show horizontal stripes running out from the center. In some individuals, due to the lack of dark pigment spots, a narrow, pale median stripe appears on the midline of the back, which widens slightly at the level of the pharynx and the copulatory apparatus . The color of the abdomen is a monochrome cream to grayish white. The crawling sole takes up the entire width of the belly side. There are many glands on the surface of the body on the lateral edges .
Many eyes are arranged in a single row around the front end. Behind the front end they become more numerous and are distributed up to a width of about a third on both sides of the back surface. Sometimes there is a small pigment-free zone around the eyes, so that a halo effect appears , especially in dark-colored individuals .
On the abdomen side, just behind the middle of the body, the mouth opening is at a height of approx. 60% of the body length. There is a cylindrical pharynx there.
Behind the mouth opening is the genital opening of the hermaphrodite worms. In the body, the six testicles are more on the back in the front half of the body. The 1 to 1.7 millimeter long, ovoid-blunt penis is directed to the left and back and occupies the largest space in the male genital atrium , which is separated from the female atrium by a large, mantle-like fold. The paired ovaries are also in the front area, but in contrast to the testicles, they are more on the ventral side. The fallopian tubes run in the body in such a way that they open into the funnel-shaped female atrium from the rear end.
Freshly hatched young animals have a light, cream-colored basic color with fine brown dots. These pigment spots show a stronger accumulation towards the center line, with the center line itself being free of pigment. The front tip is dark gray and the ventral side shows a pale gray color.
way of life
Many of the species were found in open landscapes, including in Brazil and France . It was often found in cultivated landscapes in Europe, often in gardens or in areas used by nurseries. Resting places are often larger objects that lie on the floor, such as flower pots or plastic boxes. The species has not been detected in Europe in regions over 500 meters above sea level . Based on the localities in Europe one can see that the species prefers warm climatic conditions, while the planarians are less numerous in colder locations.
The land planaria reproduces by laying egg cocoons that are produced in the female genital atrium. When deposited, these egg cocoons are red in color, which turns dark brown in three days. At 20 ° C, three young animals hatched after 13 to 17 days from an observed egg cocoon.
Obama nungara is a predatory flatworm that actively hunts earthworms and snails . Under laboratory conditions, an individual also ate carrion, more precisely a frozen piece of a cockroach . Because of its hunting behavior and its wide distribution, it is possibly the most dangerous land planarie in Europe for biodiversity and soil ecology . Earthworms are important for soil quality and form the basis for the nutrition of many different animals. Obama nungara , on the other hand, has no natural predators in Europe.
distribution
In Brazil, the holotype was discovered in a meadow between fish ponds. This area was located in a region covered with Atlantic rainforest . Natural habitats of the species are also found in Argentina.
The Obama nungara was probably introduced to Europe through the plant trade. The invasive species can be found frequently in the Mediterranean , Italy , Spain and France, as well as in areas along the Atlantic coast , Portugal , Spain, France, Belgium , the Netherlands . In addition to the continental mainland, the species was also found on various islands, e.g. B. Great Britain , Guernsey , Ireland , Corsica and Madeira found. The species has also been discovered in Switzerland . In 2021, the first proof of Germany took place in Regensburg .
In France, a more detailed inventory of Obama nungara was made in a field study with the help of the population . For this purpose, citizens sent pictures and collected copies to Jean-Lou Justine's research group . During the evaluation of the submitted evidence, it turned out that the land planarie could be found particularly frequently mainly along the coast and in urban areas. The species was found in 72 of the 96 départements , in colder regions in the northeast and in the mountains it was rarely or rarely seen. Genetic studies indicated that they are believed to have descended from individuals in Argentina.
Systematics and synonyms
As early as 2008, land planarians were discovered in the national territory of the United Kingdom, which were assigned to the genus Geoplana . Finds in Spain, Italy and France followed later. Due to the coloring and body drawing, the individuals were assigned to Geoplana marmorata , which was transferred to a newly described genus in 2013 as Obama marmorata .
During a genetic examination, Carbayo and his team found that the finds from Europe and individuals from Brazil were not closely related to the phenotypically similar species Obama marmorata , instead Obama ladislavii and Obama otavioi showed a greater genetic similarity to the European specimens. For this reason, in 2016, Obama nungara was first described as a new species by Fernando Carbayo's research group . In publications prior to 2016, Obama marmorata can often be seen as a synonym for Obama nungara .
Cladogram for the systematically closely related species of Obama nungara :
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etymology
The generic name Obama is derived from the Tupi language that was spoken on the Atlantic coast of Brazil . It is a combination of the words oba (Eng. "Leaf") and ma (Eng. "Animal"). This refers to the outer, leaf-like shape.
The type epithet nungara also comes from the Tupi language and means “similar” or “equal” in German. This refers to the similar appearance to Obama marmorata , to which individuals were assigned until their own species status was determined.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fernando Carbayo, Marta Álvarez-Presas, Hugh D. Jones, Marta Riutort: The true identity of Obama (Platyhelminthes: Geoplanidae) flatworm spreading across Europe . In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . tape 177 , no. 1 , 2016, p. 5–28 , doi : 10.1111 / zoj.12358 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jean-Lou Justine, Leigh Winsor, Delphine Gey, Pierre Gros, Jessica Thévenot: Obama chez moi! The invasion of metropolitan France by the land planarian Obama nungara (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae) . In: PeerJ . tape 8 , 2020, p. e8385 , doi : 10.7717 / peerj.8385 .
- ↑ Jens Voss: Slimy Invaders: Carnivorous Worms Conquer Europe. In: nationalgeographic.de. The Walt Disney Company (Germany) GmbH, March 27, 2020, accessed September 6, 2021 .
- ↑ a b Ulrich Kutschera & Ingo Ehnes: Obama nungara: A flatworm from South America invades Germany . In: Science . tape 372 , 581 (E-Letter), 2021, pp. 1-2 .
- ↑ Fernando Carbayo, Marta Álvarez-Presas, Cláudia T. Olivares, Fernando PL Marques, Eudóxia Maria Froehlich , Marta Riutort: Molecular phylogeny of Geoplaninae (Platyhelminthes) challenges current classification: Proposal of taxonomic actions . In: Zoologica Scripta . tape 42 , no. 5 , 2013, p. 508-528 , doi : 10.1111 / zsc.12019 .