Turbellarian taxonomic database

Abstract / Notes

HYMANELLA (Planariidae) is defined and one species, H. retenuova, is described from vernal ponds and a
spring-fed swampy stream in Seekonk, Massachusetts. In vernal ponds the species is present during the winter
and spring and becomes sexually mature. The fully formed, stalkless egg capsules are retained in the body of
the parent worm for a period before being deposited. In vernal ponds in nature these egg capsules apparently
remain dormant during the summer and early autumn to hatch when water is again in the ponds in the late fall
or early winter. The capsules resist exptl. attempts to induce their hatching in the early weeks folowing
their deposit, but young worms emerge after a resting period of some 2 months or more. The species is
markedly protandrous, and in some morphological and ecological features shows similarities to spp. of
Phagocata and Curtisia.

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