Caenoplana coerulea

Blue Planarian, Blue Garden Flatworm at Kosciuszko National Park, NSW

Caenoplana coerulea at Kosciuszko National Park, NSW - 12 Feb 2020
Caenoplana coerulea at Kosciuszko National Park, NSW - 12 Feb 2020
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Identification history

Caenoplana coerulea 27 Mar 2021 trevorpreston
Caenoplana coerulea 8 Mar 2020 MichaelMulvaney
Caenoplana coerulea 1 Mar 2020 michaelb
Caenoplana coerulea 29 Feb 2020 SandraH

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User's notes

Caenoplana coerulea. saw several of these flatworms along tracks after rain, ranging in size from about 2cm to about 15cm

5 comments

michaelb wrote:
   1 Mar 2020
Hi Sandra
Do you have some expertise that you know for sure that this is Caenoplana coerulea?
We have no-one with enough knowledge of worms etc, so would respect your choice.
SandraH wrote:
   2 Mar 2020
No real expertise, but did find comments that this species often out of their burrows after rain in the Kosci area, and that all fits.
turb wrote:
   31 Mar 2021
This medium blue colour variant of Caenoplana coerulea is peculiar to the Kosciusko area - the dorsal ground colour is almost the same as the cobalt-blue ventral surface. Normally the species is described as being Prussian blue in colour.
trevorpreston wrote:
   1 Apr 2021
Thanks for all your work on these flatworms and the extra information as well. It fascinating and very difficult information to come by. I don't suppose you have considered writing a book?
turb wrote:
   1 Apr 2021
Yes, the thought has crossed my mind, but trying to sort out some of the pressing taxonomic problems in the Australian land planarian fauna, and finishing off my work on land planarians of the NZ Subantarctic Islands have priority :)

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Sighting information

  • 10 Abundance
  • 12 Feb 2020 08:51 AM Recorded on
  • SandraH Recorded by

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