Metaphire houlleti ( Perrier, 1872 )

Chang, Chih-Han, Snyder, Bruce A. & Szlavecz, Katalin, 2016, Asian pheretimoid earthworms in North America north of Mexico: An illustrated key to the genera Amynthas, Metaphire, Pithemera, and Polypheretima (Clitellata: Megascolecidae), Zootaxa 4179 (3), pp. 495-529 : 519

13. Metaphire houlleti ( Perrier, 1872)

( Figure 19 )

Perichaeta houlleti Perrier, 1872: 99 .

Pheretima houlleti — Gates 1958: 31; 1982: 52.

Metaphire houlleti — Sims & Easton 1972: 238. Reynolds 1978: 127; 2011: 279. Reynolds & Wetzel 2004: 88; 2008: 180.

Data sources. Gates (1937, 1972, 1982); Shen et al. (2005).

Diagnosis. Size 107–200 mm by 3–8 mm. Segment numbers 86–131. Color of live specimens unknown. Male pores paired in XVIII, each in a copulatory pouch with a C-shaped opening. Post-clitellar genital markings two in each copulatory pouch. Spermathecal pores three pairs in 6/7/8/9, some or all missing in parthenogenetic morphs. Pre-clitellar genital markings absent or present; when present, within the intersegmental furrow, next to each spermathecal pore, one anterior, one posterior. Female pore single in XIV. First dorsal pore 9/10 or 10/11. Spermathecae three pairs in VII–IX, some or all lacking in parthenogenetic morphs, duct shorter than ampulla, diverticulum with short, slender stalk and wider, elongate, coiled seminal chamber; accessory gland stalked. Prostate glands paired, extending through some or all of XVI–XXIII. Intestinal caeca paired in XXVII, simple, extending anteriorly to XXII–XXIV.

Remarks. Metaphire houlleti was first recorded in the continental US in 1969 in Georgia and Florida ( Gates 1982). Both amphimictic and parthenogenetic morphs have been reported in the species.

Figures

FIGURE 19. Metaphire houlleti. (A) Right male pore region (USNM 27574). (B) Right male pore region with an everted copulatory pouch. (C) Left spermathecae in VII – IX. (D) Left prostate gland and its duct (arrow). (E) Left intestinal caecum. B – E from USNM 125080.