Turbellarian taxonomic database

Abstract / Notes

"In an effort to understand the phylogeny of the Platyhelminthes, the patterns
of body-wall musculature of flatworms were studied using fluorescence
microscopy and Alexa-488-labeled phalloidin. Species of the Catenulida have a
simple orthogonal gridwork of longitudinal and circular muscles. Members of the
Rhabditophora have the same gridwork of musculature, but also have diagonal
muscles over their entire body. Although a few species of Acoelomorpha
possessed a simple orthogonal grid of musculature, most species typically have
distinctly different patterns of dorsal and ventral body-wall musculature that
include sets of longitudinal, circular, U-shaped, and several kinds of diagonal
muscles. Several distinct patterns of musculature were identified, including 8
patterns in 11 families of acoels. These patterns have proven to be useful in
clarifying the phylogeny of the Acoelomorpha, particularly with regard to the
higher acoels. Patterns of musculature as well as other morphological
characters are used here for revisions of acoel systematics, including the
return of Eumecynostomum sanguineum (Mecynostomidae) to the genus Aphanostoma
(Convolutidae), the revision of the family Childiidae, and the formation of a
new family, Actinoposthiidae."

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