First report in France of Caenoplana decolorata, a recently described species of alien terrestrial flatworm (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae)

Abstract

Alien land flatworms (family Geoplanidae) are invading many countries in the world. Some can easily be identified by their morphology and colour pattern, but some are more cryptic and necessitate a molecular approach. Caenoplana decolorata Mateos et al., 2020 was recently described, from specimens found in Spain, as a sibling species to C. coerulea Moseley, 1877. We found that one specimen collected in Nantes, France in 2014 had a 100% identity of its COI sequence with one specimen of the original description of C. decolorata, and thus we record here the species for the first time in France.