Seven new species of land planarian from Japan and China (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Bipaliidae), with a morphological review of all Japanese bipaliids and a biogeographic overview of Far Eastern species

An account is given of seven new species of land planarian of the family Bipaliidae von Graff, 1896 collected from various localities in Japan and China : three new species of the genus Bipalium Stimpson, 1857 and two new species of the genus Novibipalium Kawakatsu, Ogren & Froehlich, 1998 from Japan, and two new species of Bipalium from China. The bipaliid fauna of Japan and neighbouring countries (South Korea, Taiwan, NE China, and Primorskiy in Russia) is reviewed. The study concludes with a detailed distribution map of this group of animals in the Far East.