Amaga expatria | |
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Amaga expatria from La Martinique | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
Order: | Tricladida |
Family: | Geoplanidae |
Genus: | Amaga |
Species: | A. expatria
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Binomial name | |
Amaga expatria Jones & Sterrer, 2005 [1]
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Amaga expatria is a large species of land planarian in the subfamily Geoplaninae.
Amaga expatria is a large species, reaching 132 mm in length and 9 mm in width in extended state. The dorsal colour is mid-brown with a dark brown anterior tip, with two narrow dark blue lines dorsally along the anterior third.[1][2] It looks a bit like, in colour and shape, "a banana cut lengthwise".[3]
According to the authors of the taxon, the specific epithet "is based on ex patria = expatriate, meaning away from one’s native country, recognising that this worm, like much of the present biota of Bermuda including humans, originated elsewhere."[1]
Amaga expatria has been found in the Bermuda and in two islands of the Caribbean, Martinique and Guadeloupe.[1][2] The species is abundant in Guadeloupe and Martinique.[3]
As other land flatworms, this animal is a predator of other small animals. The prey of Amaga expatria include molluscs and earthworms.[2]
The complete mitogenome of Amaga expatria was described in 2020. It is 14,962 bp in length and contains 12 protein coding genes, two rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes.[2]