? Fridericia bulbosa (Rosa, 1887) (T)

Neoenchytraeus bulbosus Rosa, 1887 .

Fridericia bulbosa Michaelsen 1889; Rota 2015.

For further synonymies see Schmelz (2003), but see Rota (2015).

Type locality. Italy, Torino, in soil and decaying wood.

Distribution in China. Only found in Chongqing City, in the bamboo forest (Xie et al. 1999b).

Remarks. The characters of the Chinese specimens recorded by Xie et al. (1999b) were said to conform with the description of the species given by Nielsen & Christensen (1959) (Xie et al., 1999b) in: 2 per chaetae per bundle, short oesophageal appendages (“peptonephridia” in Xie et al. 1999) with 2–3 terminal or subterminal branches, “ type a” nucleated coelomocytes, medium-sized ectal duct gland and long ectal duct. However, Schmelz (2003) considered F. bulbosa sensu Nielsen & Christensen in large parts a species different from F. bulbosa and named it F. benti Schmelz, 2002 . Further records of this species were considered doubtful or transferred to other species; F. bulbosa itself was considered a nomen dubium due to lack of type material and an original description poor in details.

Later Rota (2015) collected material from a site not far from the type locality and revalidated F. bulbosa with an emended redescription that contained the following characters, among others: (1) small body size (length: 5–7 mm; segments: 24–42); (2) chaetae up to 4 per bundle, chaetae behind clitellum generally 2 per bundle; (3) oesophageal appendages short, unbranched; (4) spermathecal ectal ducts very long, each with a small ectal gland, ampullae small and bulb-shaped; (5) 5 pairs of preclitellar nephridia (6/7–10/11); (6) nucleated coelomocytes hyaline (type a); (7) dorsal blood vessel from XVI–XVII, chylus cells in XIII–XV. The account of Xie et al. (1999b) differs from this account in: (1) larger body size (length: 9–10 vs. 5–7 mm; segments: 49–54 vs. 24–42); (2) chaetae 2 per bundle throughout; (3) branched oesophageal appendages. It also differs from F. benti in a higher segment number, branched oesophageal appendages and a small spermathecal ectal gland, among other characters. The identity of F. bulbosa sensu Xie et al. 1999b is hence unresolved; resampling of the single locality where this species was found in China may be promising.