Schmidtea polychroa subsp. macroauriculata Casu, Vacca & Pala 1983

Schmidtea polychroa macroauriculata Casu, Vacca & Pala, 1983

A peculiar form of S. polychroa was found in a small river on the western part of the Sardinian coast (Rio Mannu di Milis) (Casu et al., 1983). This form was called S. polychroa macroauriculata because of its characteristic triangular head, resembling species of Dugesia. The two eyes of this subspecies S. p. macroauriculata are localized in a more apical position than is the case in species of Dugesia but in a position similar to that of Schmidtea species. Differences in some characters of the copulatory apparatus also have been highlighted. The diploid chromosome complement (2n = 8; n = 4) of S. p. macroauriculata corresponds to that of biotype A of S. polychroa (Casu et al., 1983). New sampling campaigns have been already carried out with the aim of providing a more detailed morphological description of S. p. macroauriculata.