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Issue: Vol. 5424 No. 5: 18 Mar. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-03-18
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5424.5.5
Page range: 569-580
Abstract views: 13
PDF downloaded: 0

Two new species of the genus Megascolex Templeton, 1844 (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) from the Eastern Ghats of Odisha state, India

Department of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources; Central University of Orissa; Koraput—764021; Odisha; India
Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam— 686560; Kerala; India
Department of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources; Central University of Orissa; Koraput—764021; Odisha; India; Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam— 686560; Kerala; India
Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam— 686560; Kerala; India
House No 77/62; Mansarovar; Jaipur—302020; Rajasthan; India
Annelida biodiversity endemic Oligochaeta Peninsular India taxonomy

Abstract

Two new earthworm species of Megascolex Templeton, 1844, M. quadripapillatus Narayanan & Paliwal, sp. nov. and M. jeyporeghatiensis Narayanan & Paliwal, sp. nov. are described from the under-explored Eastern Ghats Hills of Odisha state in Peninsular India. They belong to a group of species characterized by two pairs of spermathecal pores in intersegmental furrows 7/8/9, holandric, seminal vesicles in segments 9 and 12, absence of penial setae and calciferous glands. Megascolex ratus Cognetti, 1911, M. pumilio Stephenson, 1916 and the two new species described here are the members of this group. Megascolex quadripapillatus sp. nov. and M. jeyporeghatiensis sp. nov. occur in deciduous forests with brownish gravel-loamy soils. Here we provide the detailed description of the external and internal characteristics of the new species along with the illustrations of the key characters. With the new findings, the range of Megascolex genus has been extended further north in the less explored Eastern Ghats Hills of India. With this discovery, the total number of Megascolex species has increased to 70, of which 34 are found in India.

 

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