Kerriona luederwaldti Michaelsen, 1924

James, Samuel W., Bartz, Marie L. C. & Brown, George G., 2023, New Ocnerodrilidae genera, species and records from Brazil (Annelida: Crassiclitellata), Zootaxa 5255 (1), pp. 235-269 : 251-252

Kerriona luederwaldti Michaelsen, 1924 ( Fig. 10 a-c)

BRMG0026 , four adults, Itatiaia National Park , Itamonte, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, S22.3674°, W44.7395°, 2072 m asl., in bromeliad leaf axils; 12 February 2009, S.W. James, S.K. Davidson, G.G. Brown, M.L.C. Bartz, colls .

Description. Dimensions 93-138 mm by 4.2-4.5 mm at segment x, 4.5-4.9 at clitellum, 4.8-5.0 mm at xxx, body cylindrical anterior to clitellum, dorso-ventrally flattened oval posterior to clitellum, height 3.9-4.0 mm at xxx. Setae unpaired, separate throughout; setal formula AA:AB:BC:CD:DD = 1.2:1:1.5:1.4:1.9 at xxx. Prostomium epilobous open; segments without secondary annulations. Dark gray dorsal pigmentation, more prominent near segmental furrows, lighter around setae, no dorsal pores, spermathecal pores with tumid lips in 7/8, 8/9 at B; copulatory plugs present in most specimens’ spermathecal pores. Ovipores paired in xiv midway between 13/14, at equator of xiv, just medial to B line; male pores in xviii just medial to B; prostatic pores at ends of seminal grooves in B in xvii-xix, surrounded by elevated porophores; seminal grooves concave laterally. Setae B not visible in xviixix. Clitellum xiii-xxi, xxii annular, genital markings paired in A lines of viii, oval with longitudinal fine stripes; paired oval markings in xviii spanning male grooves ( Fig. 10a ).

Septa 5/6-8/9, 9/10 slightly muscular, remainder membranous. Alimentary canal lacking gizzard; esophagous valvular in xii, intestinal origin in xiii covered with thick chloragogen layer from xx posteriorly; no typhlosole. Calciferous glands ovate, very large, paired in ix, divided in two main compartments by V-shaped partition with the apex towards the center of the gland; each partition densely packed with longitudinal lamellae ( Fig. 10b ); each gland with blood vessel from anterior end to extra-esophageal vessel, and blood vessel from posterior face of gland to supra-esophageal vessel. Holonephric, nephridia tubular in iii-xx, from xxi posteriorly nephridia become large closely folded slender flat ribbons of dense white material of glandular appearance occupying body cavity from A to mid-dorsal ( Fig. 10c ).

Vascular system with ventral trunk, dorsal vessel single, lateral vessels in iv-ix, lateral-esophageal hearts in x-xi.

Ovaries and funnels in xiii; paired adiverticulate spermathecae in viii, ix, tongue-shaped, sessile on body wall, larger in ix.

Male sexual system proandric, testes and funnels enclosed in sacs, vas deferens not seen; muscular dome on inner surface of xviii corresponding to external genital markings in xviii, but lacking at genital markings of viii; seminal vesicles only in xi large, post-septal; slender tubular 7-10 mm prostates folded over and under intestine within xiii-xx; prostatic ducts slender, 2 mm long, very faintly muscular. Transverse muscles within xvi-xx across ventral surface of inner body wall, largest within xviii.

Remarks. Kerriona luederwaldti was first collected in Itatiaia from bromeliads, but the description is based on immature specimens ( Michaelsen 1924), also collected in bromeliads of the “upland native grassland” of the Itatiaia plateau, corresponding to the highland region close to where the current specimens were found. Itatiaia National Park is a very large place spanning a considerable range of elevations at which bromeliads can occur. Our specimens were collected just south of the Rio de Janeiro-Minas Gerais state boundary along a road leading north into the plateau region (>2000 meters elevation). Characters supporting the identification of our material as K. luederwaldti are: setal arrangement, pigmentation, male field, internal somatic and sexual characters. The only differences other than those attributable to the full maturity of ours are that the examined specimens are epilobous rather than tanylobous. We obtained the following DNA barcodes for this species: HQ562651, HQ562652, HQ562653.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Kerriona luederwaldti A. Ventral view with genital marking (gm), male field (mf), prostatic pores (pp) and spermathecal pores (sp), scale bar 2 mm; B. Cross section of calciferous gland; C. Internal view of dense mantled nephridia adhering to intestine.