Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2025-12-15
Page range: 283-314
Abstract views: 68
PDF downloaded: 3

Three newly discovered species of Amynthas earthworms (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Jiangxi Province and adjacent regions of China

School of Materials and Environmental Engineering; Chengdu Technological University; Chengdu; 610031; China.
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences; Nanjing Agricultural University; Nanjing; 210014; China
School of Agriculture and Biology; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Shanghai; 200240; China
School of Agriculture and Biology; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Shanghai; 200240; China
Centre for Grassland Microbiome; State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems; College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology; Lanzhou University; Lanzhou; 730020; China
Annelida Amynthas earthworms taxonomy new species genetic barcoding

Abstract

This study describes three new earthworm species, namely, Amynthas yichunensis Sun & Jiang, sp. nov., A. huizhouensis Sun & Jiang, sp. nov., and A. shangraoensis Sun & Jiang, sp. nov. A. yichunensis sp. nov. exhibits variability in the number and position of spermathecal pores, with 0, 1, or 2 pairs located at intersegmental furrow 8/9 or spanning segments 7/8–8/9. A. huizhouensis sp. nov. possesses three pairs of spermathecal pores, located at intersegmental furrows 5/6–7/8, similar to other species within the A. gracilis group. A. shangraoensis sp. nov. features four pairs of spermathecal pores, which places it within the A. corticis group, with the pores located at intersegmental furrows 5/6–8/9. The genetic barcodes for the newly identified species have been submitted to the GenBank database.

 

References

  1. Blakemore, R.J. (2007) Updated checklist of pheretimoids (Oligochaeta : Megascolecidae : Pheretima auct.) taxa. Available from: http://www.annelida.net/earthworm/Pheretimoids.pdf (accessed 28 November 2023)
  2. Chang, C.H. & Chen, J.H. (2005) Taxonomic status and intraspecific phylogeography of two sibling species of Metaphire (Oligochaeta : Megascolecidae) in Taiwan. Pedobiologia, 49, 591–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2005.07.002
  3. Chen, Y., Hsu, C., Yang, T. & Fong, H. (1975) On some new earthworms from China. Acta Zoologica Sinica, 21 (1), 89–99. [in Chinese]
  4. Decaëns, T., Porco, D., James, S.W., Brown, G.G., Chassany, V., Dubs, F., Dupont, L., Lapied, E., Rougerie, R. & Rossi, J.P. (2016) DNA barcoding reveals diversity patterns of earthworm communities in remote tropical forests of French Guiana. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 5 (12), 171–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.10.009
  5. Dong, Y., Jiang, J., Yuan, Z., Zhao, Q. & Qiu, J. (2020) Population genetic structure reveals two lineages of Amynthas triastriatus (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) in China, with notes on a new subspecies of Amynthas triastriatus. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (5), 1538. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051538
  6. Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R. & Vrijenhoek, R. (1994) DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology, 3 (5), 294–299.
  7. Han, A.C.N., Zhang, Y., Miao, P., Wu, S., Xiao, N., Qin, M., Zhao, H., Wu, D. & Aspe, N.M. (2024) Distribution and systematics of the cosmopolitan Amynthas carnosus complex (Crassiclitellata, Megascolecidae) from eastern Asia. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 100 (3), 1061–1073. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.119292
  8. James, S.W., Porco, D., Decaens, T., Richard, B., Rougerie, R. & Erseus, C. (2010) DNA Barcoding Reveals Cryptic Diversity in Lumbricus terrestris L., 1758 (Clitellata): Resurrection of L. herculeus (Savigny, 1826). Plos One, 5 (12), 2730–2756. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015629
  9. Jiang, J., Sun, J., Zhao, Q. & Qiu, J. (2015) Four new earthworm species of the genus Amynthas Kinberg (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from the island of Hainan and Guangdong Province, China. Journal of Natural History, 49 (1–2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2014.931480
  10. Li, J., Jiang, J., Jin, Q., Yuan, Z., Liu, H. & Qiu, J. (2024) Three new species of the genus Amynthas (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Zootaxa, 5410 (1), 49–66. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5410.1.2
  11. Mang, S.M., Marcone, C., Maxim, A. & Camele, I. (2022) Investigations on fungi isolated from apple trees with die-back symptoms from Basilicata Region (Southern Italy). Plants, 11, 1374. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11101374
  12. Novo, M., Almodóvar, A., Fernández, R., Trigo, D., Díaz-Cosín, D.J. & Giribet, G. (2012) Appearances can be deceptive: different diversification patterns within a group of Mediterranean earthworms (Oligochaeta, Hormogastridae). Molecular Ecology, 21, 3776–3793. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05648.x
  13. Shen, H.P. (2012) Three new earthworms of the genus Amynthas (Megascolecidae: Oligochaeta) from eastern Taiwan with redescription of Amynthas hongyehensis Tsai and Shen, 2010. Journal of Natural History, 46 (37–38), 2259–2283. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.716867
  14. Sun, J., Jiang, J., Wu, J., Yuan, Z. & Qiu, J. (2021a) Three new widely distributed and polymorphic species of Amynthas earthworms (Oligochaeta, Clitellata, Megascolecidae) from South China. Zootaxa, 4938 (4), 457–474. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4938.4.5
  15. Sun, J., Jiang, J., Zhang, L. & Qiu, J. (2021b) Three New Megascolecidae Species Collected from Yunnan,China (Haplotaxida: Megascolecidae: Amynthas). Sichuan Journal of Zoology, 40 (5), 550–557. [in Chinese]
  16. Sun, J., Zhao, Q., Jiang, J. & Qiu, J. (2013) New Amynthas species (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from south and central Hainan Island, China and estimates of evolutionary divergence among some corticis-group species. Journal of Natural History, 47 (17–18), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.743613
  17. Xiao, N., Xu, Q., Gao, X., Guo, N., Gao, J., Ji, S. & Li, J. (2023) Earthworms in China. Science Press, Beijing, 463 pp. [in Chinese]
  18. Zhao, Q., Sun, J. & Qiu, J. (2009) Three new species of the Amynthas hawayanus-group (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Hainan Island, China. Journal of Natural History, 43 (17–18), 1027–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930902767433
  19. Zhong, Y. & Ma, D. (1979) An account of some new terrestrial Oligochaetes form Sichuan. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 4 (3), 228–232. [in Chinese]

How to Cite

Sun, J., Wang, D.-Y., Qiu, J.-P., Jiang, J.-B. & Liu, M.-Q. (2025) Three newly discovered species of Amynthas earthworms (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Jiangxi Province and adjacent regions of China. Zootaxa, 5729 (2), 283–314. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5729.2.4