An integrative taxonomic approach reveals unexplored diversity in Croatian planarians

Overall, our effort integrates Croatia as an underexplored but planaria species-rich region into the endeavour to systematically describe the planarian fauna of Europe. The expansion of a known number of Croatian planarian species from eight to sixteen and the discovery of a new, large planarian species in continental Europe, Dendrocoelum pigmentatum, demonstrate the effectiveness of our integrative approach. Overall, our work highlights the underappreciated diversity of planarians, even in continental Europe and supports practical conservation efforts to preserve aquatic biodiversity.