Metaphire tengjhihensis, Chang, Chih-Han, Chuang, Shu-Chun, Wu, Jia Hsing & Chen, Jiun-Hong, 2014

Chang, Chih-Han, Chuang, Shu-Chun, Wu, Jia Hsing & Chen, Jiun-Hong, 2014, New species of earthworms belonging to the Metaphire formosae species group (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) in Taiwan, Zootaxa 3774 (4), pp. 324-332 : 325-327

Metaphire tengjhihensis sp. nov. Chang & Chen

( Fig. 1 )

Metaphire sp.: Chang et al. 2008: 959, 964–965, Figs. 1 –4, Tables 1, 3; Chang & Chen 2008: 56–58, Fig. 1 O, Table 1; Chang et al. 2009: 6, Fig. 2 O. [ Chang et al. (2009) cited the taxon as ‘an undescribed species’].

Type specimens. Holotype: MZNTU 14-05901 (mature), collected 6 May 2003 from Tengjhih, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan by C.-H. Chang. Paratypes: Two specimens. MZNTU 14-07003 (mature), collected 1 April 2004 from Tengjhih, Kaohsiung County by C.-H. Chang; MZNTU 14-07175 (mature), collected 4 April 2004 from Liouguei, Kaohsiung County by S.-P. Wu.

Other material examined. Three mature specimens. MZNTU 14-05900, collected 5 May 2003 from Tengjhih, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan by C.-H. Chang; MZNTU 14-05902, collected 6 May 2003 from Tengjhih, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan by C.-H. Chang; MZNTU 14-06224, collected 30 July 2003 along Route 20, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan by C.-H. Chang.

Distribution. Southward of the Launong River in the southwest of the Central Mountain Range, recorded at elevations above 2,000 m.

Etymology. After the type locality Tengjhih, Kaohsiung.

DNA barcodes from type specimens. Available for MZNTU 14-05901, 14-07175 ( Table 1).

Diagnosis. Pheretimoids with lengths 90–176 mm, clitellum width 8–9 mm. Copulatory pouches present with a round or oval pad in front of the male pore. Spermathecae four pairs in 6–9 with coiled diverticulum stalks. No genital papillae in the spermathecal pore area. Testes proandric. Prostate gland lobular. Caeca simple.

Morphology. External characters. Length (mature) 90–176 mm, clitellum width 8–9 mm, segment number 62–111. Number of annuli per segment three in 5–9, five in 10–13, and three in body segments behind 17.

Prostomium epilobous. Setae 84–102 in 7, 96–102 in 20, 17–21 between male pores. First dorsal pore in 12/13. Clitellum 14–16, annular, smooth, length 6–8 mm, dorsal pore absent, setae absent. Preserved specimens light brown. Spermathecal pores four pairs in 5/6–8/9, lateral, distance between the paired pores about 0.4–0.5 body circumference apart ventrally. No genital papillae in the spermathecal pore region. Female pore single, mid-ventral in 14. Male pores paired in 18, latero-ventral, in a C-shaped copulatory pouch, with the opening of the C towards mid-ventral, bordered laterally by a thick skin wall. Male pore area slightly enlarged, extending to the post-setal and pre-setal annuli of 17 and 19, respectively, surrounded by circular folds, with a round or oval pad anterior to the pore and partially covered by the skin wall. Genital papillae absent in the male pore area.

Internal characters. Septa 5/6–7/8 slightly thickened, 8/9 membranous, 9/10 absent, 10/11–13/14 greatly thickened. Gizzard in 8. Intestine enlarged from 15. Intestinal caeca paired in 27, simple, extending anteriorly to 23. Oesophageal hearts enlarged in 10–13. Spermathecae four pairs in 6–9, each with an elliptic ampulla about 3–5 mm long, and a short stalk about 1–2 mm. Diverticulum small, with an oval, white seminal chamber, and a short, tightly coiled stalk, reaching the base of ampulla. Meronephridia tufted, attached to the anterior face of septa 5/6 and 6/7. Ovaries paired in 13, medio-ventral, close to the 12/13 septum. Testis sacs paired in 10, oval-shaped, smooth, medio-ventral in front of 10/11. Seminal vesicles paired in 11, large, enclosed in thin sacs, each one with a folliculate dorsal lobe. Prostate glands paired in 18, large, lobular, extending to 17 and 19.

Remarks. M. tengjhihensis sp. nov. is the sister taxon to M. feijani and was recognized as a cryptic species morphologically similar to M. paiwanna paiwanna by Chang et al. (2008) using DNA barcodes as well as other genes. These authors showed that M. tengjhihensis ( Metaphire sp. in the paper) and M. paiwanna paiwanna differ by an average of 16.4% in their COI gene. Compared to M. paiwanna paiwanna , M. tengjhihensis is generally smaller and has more regularly coiled spermathecal diverticulum stalks. In addition, the two species live in different habitats: M. paiwanna paiwanna lives in evergreen broadleaf forests at elevations below 1,600 m, while M. tengjhihensis lives in the colder deciduous broadleaf forests at elevations above 2,000 m.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Metaphire tengjhihensis sp. nov. A. Ventral view of anterior body (fp, female pore; mp, male pore; cl, clitellum). B. Spermatheca (amp, ampulla; dv, diverticulum). C. Male pore area (op, oval pad). D. Prostate gland with prostatic duct. Drawings of B, C, and D based on photographs from Fig. 32 in Chang & Chen 2008.

FIGURE 2. Metaphire nanaoensis truku ssp. nov. A. Ventral view of anterior body (fp, female pore; mp, male pore; cl, clitellum). B. Spermatheca (amp, ampulla; dv, diverticulum). C. Male pore area (sw, longitudinally swollen region). D. Prostate gland with prostatic duct. Drawings of B, C, and D based on photographs from Fig. 14 in Chang & Chen 2008.