Source Themes

Preliminary report on freshwater oligochaetes from some districts of Tamil Nadu (India), along with DNA barcode sequence of a commercially important oligochaete in Chennai

A survey of aquatic Oligochaeta was conducted at Thiruvallur, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Villupuram and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu from October 2015 to June 2016. Eleven taxa were recorded from a total of 922 specimens examined, eight of them were …

On the identity and phylogenetic position of Dero indica (Clitellata: Naididae)

The identity and validity of the freshwater worm Dero indica (Clitellata: Naididae; Naidinae) has been debated, and it has been suggested that it is likely to be identical with D. digitata. In this study we combine a newly generated COI sequence of …

A morphology-based identification key to the Cognettia species of the world (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae)

Morphological characters for identification of Cognettia species are presented both as a dichotomous key and in table form. Focus is on non-sexual characters, as many species reproduce mainly asexually, and sexually mature individuals can be rare

The popular model annelid Enchytraeus albidus is only one species in a complex of seashore white worms (Clitellata, Enchytraeidae)

The white worm Enchytraeus albidus Henle, 1837 (Clitellata, Enchytraeidae) is easy to keep in laboratory cultures, and has therefore been employed as a model organism in basic and applied biological research. Its natural habitat includes terrestrial …

A new Scandinavian Chamaedrilus species (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae), with additional notes on others

Chamaedrilus (earlier referred to as Cognettia) is a well-known genus of terrestrial and limnic enchytraeids, currently with 19 known species in the world. Some of its species are morphologically cryptic and can only be identified using genetic (DNA) …

Green light to an integrative view of Microscolex phosphoreus (Dugès, 1837) (Annelida: Clitellata: Acanthodrilidae)

The small synanthropic and peregrine earthworm Microscolex phosphoreus (Dugès, 1837) is reported for the first time from Siberia. Morphological and DNA barcode (COI) analyses of this and widely separate samples worldwide demonstrate that, as …

Two new bioluminescent Henlea from Siberia and lack of molecular support for Hepatogaster (Annelida, Clitellata, Enchytraeidae)

Two bioluminescent enchytraeids, Henlea petushkovi sp. n. and Henlea rodionovae sp. n., are described from the Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions in Eastern Siberia. These large potworms exhibit the typical light-production pattern reported repeatedly …

Hybridisation and species delimitation of Scandinavian Eisenia spp. (Clitellata: Lumbricidae)

The earthworms Eisenia fetida and E. andrei are closely related and can hybridise under laboratory conditions, but it is not known if they hybridise under more natural conditions. The two species are genetically well separated, but within E. fetida …

Cryptic diversity in supposedly species-poor genera of Enchytraeidae (Annelida: Clitellata)

Using a two-step workflow, we test the species boundaries in three genera of enchytraeid worms, Globulidrilus, Hemifridericia and Stercutus (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae), which contains one to three nominal species each. For the species discovery …

Integrative species delimitation and phylogeny of the branchiate worm Branchiodrilus (Clitellata, Naididae)

The clitellate branchiate genus Branchiodrilus presently includes three nominal species with a mainly tropical distribution. A recent molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Naidinae suggested that species complexes may occur within the genus. In order …