Megascolex Templeton, 1844 (Clitellata, Megascolecidae): description of a new species from the northern Eastern Ghats, India with taxonomic key to the Indian species

Abstract

The earthworm fauna of the Eastern Ghats Hills in Peninsular India is still under explored. Here a new species, namely, Megascolex jamiesoni Narayanan & Paliwal, sp. nov. is described based on the specimens collected from the Eastern Ghats hills of Koraput district of Odisha state, India. It belongs to the ratus-species group. Members of this group are characterized by the following features: spermathecal pores in intersegmental furrows 7/8/9, penial setae absent, holandric, calciferous glands absent, and seminal vesicles in segments 9 and 12. Present work provides a detailed description of the new species along with the illustrations of the key characters. Apart from this, a key for the Indian Megascolex species is provided. With the new findings, the range of Megascolex genus has been extended to further north in the Eastern Ghats Hills. With the discovery of the new taxa, the total number of species in the Megascolex genus has increased to 71, of these, 35 are found in India.

Keywords

• annelida
• earthworm
• endemic
• odisha
• oligochaeta
• taxonomy