Description of Branchiobdella turkestanensis n. sp. (Annelida: Clitellata) following a reexamination of specimens in the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria

Abstract

A new species of branchiobdellidan annelid, Branchiobdella turkestanensis, is described having been removed from a specimen of Pontastacus kessleri (Schimkewitsch, 1886), reportedly from Turkestan but collected from the headwaters of the Syr Darya which is in the Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, and deposited in the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria. Specimens of its sister species, Branchiobdella kozarovi Subchev, 1978, from its type area were examined and key morphological features were reported to justify naming the new species. The size, length and shape of the spermatheca and male reproductive organs in Branchiobdella turkestanensis are approximately half the size of those in B. kozarovi. Specific differences are the spermathecal bulb is ovoid, with a terete glandular atrium in B. turkestanensis, while B. kozarovi has a terete spermathecal bulb and ental process, and a curved, wide tubular glandular atrium.