A new species of Moniligaster Perrier, 1872 (Annelida, Moniligastridae) from India, with status revision of M. deshayesi minor Michaelsen, 1913

Abstract

The genus Moniligaster Perrier, 1872 is restricted to the Western Ghats mountain regions of the southern Peninsular India. A new species, Moniligaster julkai Narayanan & Paliwal, sp. nov., is described and illustrated using samples found in the Kerala districts of Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. Apart from that, the status of Moniligaster deshayesi minor Michaelsen, 1913 is critically reviewed, and it is upgraded to species rank as Moniligaster minor Michaelsen, 1913, based on a collection made near its type locality. Furthermore, new distributional records for other Moniligaster species are provided. With this discovery, the genus Moniligaster now has a total of 14 recognised species.

Keywords

• endemism
• kerala
• oligochaeta
• rubber plantation
• western ghats