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Family: Dakuidae
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Bocas Species Database Habitat: Subtidal, clean, coarse-grained, well sorted sand. Distribution: Specimens were encountered on Isla Colon and Isla Bastimentos, in the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Natural History Notes: This new species of Platyhelminthes has been named in the honor of Dr. Reinhard Rieger for his contribution to the understanding of acoela morphology and systematics. The family Dakuidae is fairly recent (2003) and was created for the species Daku woorimensis, described by Hooge in 2003. The new species Daku riegeri differs from Daku woorimensis mainly at the level of its reproductive system. Characteristics: The specimens collected measured around 500 µm in length and 150 µm of width. The body is round-shaped both at the anterior and posterior ends and the ciliated epidermis does not show a noticeable coloration. There is presence of rhabdoid glands and the frontal organs are well developed. Also, the mouth is localized on the ventral surface, in the middle of the body. The reproductive system consists of paired ovaries located ventrally and paired testes located laterally to the ovaries. Atrium branches anteriorly to male copulatory organ and dorsally to vagina. The vagina passes over the male copulatory organ and anterior to the seminal vesicle. The male copulatory organ is composed of a seminal vesicle that surrounds sperm and penis and a penis with a bowl-shape. |