- Source: Kontikia
Kontikia is a genus of land planarians native from islands in the Indo-Pacific region, but several species have been introduced elsewhere.
Description
The genus Kontikia includes planarians of elongate body, with a creeping sole that occupies one to two thirds of the body width. The mesenchymal musculature includes well-developed longitudinal muscles forming a ring zone around the intestine. The copulatory apparatus may or may not have a distinct penis papilla, depending on the degree of contraction of the reproductive structures. This led to an initial classification of specimens without a distinct penis papilla in another genus, Parakontikia.
Genetics
The complete mitochondrial genome of Kontikia ventrolineata (= Parakontikia ventrolineata) was described in 2020. It displays common unusual characteristics shared with Platydemus manokwari, such as its colinearity, an overlap between ND4L and ND4 genes and an unusually long cox2 gene.
Species
The genus Kontikia includes the following species:
