A new and alien species of "oyster leech" (Platyhelminthes, Polycladida, Stylochidae) from the brackish North Sea Canal, The Netherlands

Abstract

A new species of polyclad flatworm, Imogine necopinata Sluys, sp. nov., is described from a brackish habitat in The Netherlands. Taxonomic affinities with Asian species and the ecology of the animals suggest that the species is an introduced, exotic component of the Dutch fauna. The new species belongs to a group of worms with species that are known to predate on oysters. © Springer-Verlag and AWI 2005.