Cura (flatworm)

Cura is a genus of freshwater flatworm (triclads) belonging to the family Dugesiidae.

Cura
Cura foremanii
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Platyhelminthes
Order:	Tricladida
Family:	Dugesiidae
Genus:	Cura Strand, 1942[1]
Species[2]
Cura foremanii Cura fortis Cura pinguis

Cura was ranked as a subgenus of Dugesia until 1974, then it was elevated to the genus rank.^[3]

Description

Individuals of this genus have a low triangle-shaped head.^[4]

Distribution

Cura species present a disjunct distribution. C. foremanii inhabits North America,^[5] while C. fortis is found in New Zealand,^[6] and C. pinguis in Australia, New Zealand,^[6] and New Caledonia.^[7]

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic tree including five dugesiid genera after Álvarez-Presas et al., 2008:^[8]

Dugesiidae	Girardia Neppia Cura Schmidtea Dugesia

References

1. Strand E., 1942. Miscellanea nomenclatoria zoologica et palaeontologica. X. Folia Zool. Hydrobiol., 11: 386-402
2. Tyler S, Schilling S, Hooge M, and Bush LF (comp.) (2006-2012) Turbellarian taxonomic database. Version 1.7 Database Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
3. Ball, I. R. 1974. A new genus of freshwater triclad from Tasmania with reviews of the related genera Cura and Neppia (Turbellaria, Tricladida). Life Sci. Contr. R. Ont. Mus. No. 99:1-48.
4. Ball IR: A contribution to the phylogeny and biogeography of the freshwater triclads (Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria). Biology of the Turbellaria (Edited by: Riser NW & Morse MP). New York: McGraw-Hill New York 1974, pp.339-401.
5. Ball, I. N. R.; Fernando, C. H. (1969). "Freshwater Triclads (Platyhelminthes, Turbellaria) and Continental Drift". Nature. 221 (5186): 1143–1144. doi:10.1038/2211143a0. PMID 4975274.
6. Sluys, R., Kawakatsu, M., 2001. Contribution to an inventory of the freshwater planarians of Australia and New Zealand (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae), with distribution maps of the species examined. Beaufortia/Bull Zool Mus Univ Amsterdam 51(10):163-198
7. Kawakatsu, M., 1969. Report on freshwater and land planarians from New Caledonia. Bull. Osaka Mus. Nat. Hist., 22: 1-14
8. Álvarez-Presas, M.; Baguñà, J.; Riutort, M. (2008). "Molecular phylogeny of land and freshwater planarians (Tricladida, Platyhelminthes): From freshwater to land and back". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (2): 555–568. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.032. PMID 18359250.