Paralumbricillus gen. nov. and other new marine enchytraeids from the North Atlantic

Abstract

Lumbricillus is one of the largest enchytraeid genera and its species can mainly be found on the coasts of temperate and polar regions around the world. However, the monophyly of the genus has been questioned by recent molecular studies. In this paper we further examine the phylogenetic relationships of Lumbricillus species and their close relatives by estimating a phylogeny of 62 species, many collected along the Norwegian coastline, with seven genetic markers. We confirm Lumbricillus to be non-monophyletic and resolve this issue by establishing the new genus Paralumbricillus, into which ten of the known species are transferred: Paralumbricillus arenarius, Paralumbricillus cervisiae, Paralumbricillus christenseni, Paralumbricillus crymodes, Paralumbricillus dubius, Paralumbricillus eltoni, Paralumbricillus eudioptus, Paralumbricillus muscicolus, Paralumbricillus nielseni, Paralumbricillus westheidei, all comb. nov. In this paper we also describe eight new species: Lumbricillus bibulbus, L. boreas, L. elisae, Paralumbricillus bicornis, P. bilobatus, P. lofotensis, P. sanguineus, and Claparedrilus torquatus.

Keywords

• Annelida
• Enchytraeidae
• new species
• new genus
• taxonomy
• phylogeny