Ada's planarian

Lenkunya adae

This flatworm is shiny cream, flanked with wide olive strips with a fine black border and a fine rust/tan midline. Multiple eyespots are present at the rear. The head is pointy and tends to be darker than the rest of the body.
The adult length is 8 to 15 cm. (these animals are highly conractile)
Ada's planarian (Lenkunya adae) Found in wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forest under wet timber this 150mm long (but highly compressible) soft shiny multi-striped baggy looking worm with olive, cream and brown colouring. Moisture is essential. Taxonomy: Animalia: Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria: Seriata? Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Geoplanidae, Geoplaninae...? Despite their delicate nature these terrestrial flatworms are voracious predators. They feed through a muscular and reversible pharynx located in ventral side of the body. The pharynx is an extensible tube-like mouth, it bears complex muscular coat that specialized as a penetration organ for those planarians that feed on arthropods; or as a grasping for those planarians that feed on other soft bodied invertebrates such as earthworms. Pharynxes are equipped with glandular secretions that externally digest and dissolve their prey. ID from Dr Leigh Winsor Ada's planarian,Australia,Geoplanidae,Geotagged,Lenkunya adae,Spring,Terrestrial flatworm

Distribution

Southern Victoria, Australia.

Habitat

It is found in moist forest areas, and during drier periods it shelters under rocks, rotting logs and in leaf litter.
It is often seen after periods of heavy rain.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionPlatyhelminthes
ClassRhabditophora
OrderTricladida
FamilyGeoplanidae
GenusLenkunya
SpeciesLenkunya adae
Photographed in
Australia