Two new species of protandric pheretimoid earthworms belonging to the genus<i>Metaphire</i>(Megascolecidae: Oligochaeta) from Taiwan

Three new species of octothecate Metaphire pheretimoid earthworms are described from Taiwan. They have close phylogenetic relationships with five described species, Metaphire paiwanna, Metaphire bununa, Metaphire riukiuensis, Metaphire taiwanensis, and Amynthas formosae. These eight species are all octothecate. They have similar body size, colour, prostate glands and caeca, and the seven species belonging to the genus Metaphire have C-shaped male pores. Excluding M. riukiuensis, which has been found only in the Ryukyu Islands, the other seven species are endemic species in Taiwan. Each of them has a distinct geographical distribution. Accordingly, we inferred that the ancestor of these eight species, including M. riukiuensis, came to Taiwan from the continent of East Asia during the Pleistocene. A few of their descendants went northward to the Ryukyu Islands and were isolated. The others remained in Taiwan, dispersed, and were isolated by geographical barriers such as mountains and rivers. Subsequent allopatric speciation events in Taiwan and in the Ryukyu Islands then generated these eight species.

Section: Remarksmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In 1999, 26 earthworm species were reviewed (Shih et al 1999). However, 29 more species were reported in the next 5 years (Tsai CF et al 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2004Tsai SC et al 2000;Chang et al 2001;Shen et al , 2003Chen and Chuang 2003). Among these species, endemism is about 52.7%, including 29 species.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Three new species of octothecate pheretimoid earthworms from Taiwan, with discussion on the biogeography of related species

Chang¹,

Chen²

2005

“…In the last decade, earthworm research in Taiwan has made rapid progress and 10 new species and two new records have been added to southern Taiwan's earthworm fauna. They are Metaphire puyuma from Taitung County (Tsai et al 1999), Metaphire glareosa from Taitung and Metaphire paiwanna paiwanna from Pingtung , Metaphire yeni from Pingtung , Metaphire feijani from Pingtung (Chang and Chen 2004), Metaphire tahanmonta from Pingtung and Kaohsiung (Chang and Chen 2005), Amynthas nanrenensis and Metaphire paiwanna hengchunensis from Pingtung (James et al 2005), Amynthas cruxus and Amynthas shinanmontis from Kaohsiung (Tsai et al 2007 (Perrier, 1872) from Pingtung (James et al 2005;Shen et al 2005) and Pontodrilus litoralis (Grube, 1855) from Pingtung and Kaohsiung (James et al 2005). Amynthas shinanmontis is distributed at elevations of 1850-2700 m (Tsai et al 2007), M. tahanmonta at elevations of 500-2500 m (Chang and Chen 2005), A. cruxus at elevations of 900-1700 m (Tsai et al 2007) and M. yeni and M. feijani at elevations more or less around 1000 m Chang and Chen 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four new species ofAmynthasearthworms (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from the Central Mountain Range of southern Taiwan

Tsai

Shen

Tsai

2010

Self Cite

Four new species of terrestrial earthworms belonging to the genus Amynthas (Megascolecidae: Oligochaeta) are described from the Central Mountain Range in southern Taiwan. Two octothecate species, Amynthas pavimentus sp. nov. and Amynthas biorbis sp. nov., were found at elevations of 2000-2700 m and 412-1000 m, respectively, on both east and west slopes. Amynthas pavimentus has patched genital papillae between setal line and intersegmental furrow in VIII-IX and XVII-XX. Amynthas biorbis has a pair of large papillae adjacent to male porophores in XVIII. The other two species are the octothecate Amynthas libratus sp. nov., found at 1000 m, and the sexthecate Amynthas hongyehensis sp. nov., found at 950-1000 m, on the eastern slope. Amynthas libratus is related to A. pavimentus but has horizontal rows of papillae along setal lines or intersegmental furrows in VII-IX and XVII-XX. Amynthas hongyehensis has two pairs of large, presetal papillae medial to male porophores in XVIII and XIX.

“…This group should also include six recently described species from Taiwan with spermathecal pores in 6/7/8/9: A. binoculatus Tsai, Shen and Tsai, 1999, A. fenestrus Shen, Tsai and Tsai, 2003, A. sexpectatus Tsai, Shen and Tsai, 1999, A. tayalis Tsai, Shen and Tsai, 1999, A. tenuis Shen, Tsai and Tsai, 2003, and A. tungpuensis Tsai, Shen and Tsai, 1999. Amynthas monsoonus differs from them all in lacking the anterior two pairs of hearts, like A. nanrenensis.…”

Section: Remarksmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The earthworm fauna of Taiwan has received considerable attention in recent years, beginning with Shih et al's (1999) review of the species known from the island and continuing with several publications by a group at the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute (Tsai et al 1999(Tsai et al , 2000(Tsai et al , 2001Shen et al 2002Shen et al , 2003aShen et al , 2003b, in which 13 new species of Amynthas and Metaphire were described. While working on the literature review, H.-T. Shih made several collections over a period of 5 years with the members of the laboratory of H.-W. Chang of the National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Seven new species ofAmynthas(Clitellata: Megascolecidae) and new earthworm records from Taiwan

James

Shih

Chang

2005

Earthworm specimens collected in southern Taiwan consisted of seven new species of Amynthas and several previously known species, mostly widely distributed peregrines. The new species are A. nanrenensis of the octothecal A. corticis species group, A. monsoonus and A. huangi of the sexthecal A. aelianus species group, and four proandric octothecal species: A. chaishanensis, A. hengchunensis, A. kaopingensis and A. ailiaoensis. Amynthas chaishanensis has dorsal intrasegmental spermathecal pores, but the other three proandric species have dorsal, lateral or ventral intersegmental spermathecal pores, respectively. The proandric species are united by several features, including the enclosure of segment xi in a sac, as in A. formosae (also proandric), octothecal with spermathecae in vi-ix, spermathecal diverticula stalks generally kinked and often enclosed in membrane, and prostatic ducts divided polytomously into numerous small ductlets, which may be grouped into bundles of two to five. In A. ailiaoensis the prostatic duct trunk contains up to seven separate lumens in the ental half, surrounded by the circular muscle of the duct, while in A. chaishanensis the prostatic duct trunk contains about 40 small lumens. Of the previously known species in the collection, Pontodrilus litoralis and Metaphire houlleti are first reported from Taiwan. Additional locations for A. incongruus and A. robustus are given, and in the latter case the material appears to be the usual male-sterile morph. Other species found are Pontoscolex corethrurus, Amynthas corticis, A. gracilis, Metaphire californica, and Polypheretima elongata.