? Hemienchytraeus bifurcatus Nielsen & Christensen, 1959 [nomen dubium] (F/T)

Hemienchytraeus bifurcatus Nielsen & Christensen, 1959; Liang & Xie 1992; Schmelz & Collado 2010.

Distribution and habitat. Denmark (Nielsen & Christensen 1959), Germany and Poland (Schmelz & Collado 2010). Wet soil.

Distribution in China. Zhejiang Province (Liang & Xie, 1992); Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi Province (Wang & Liang, 2002; Cui & Wang, 2023).

Remarks. Hemienchytraeus bifurcatus Nielsen & Christensen, 1959 originally described from Denmark, has been considered a “ species inquirenda ” (Schmelz & Römbke 2005), because the original description was considered incomplete with respect to secondary pharyngeal gland lobes, preclitellar nephridia, and details of the clitellum. A validation of H. bifurcatus is difficult because type material is lost, and efforts to obtain fresh material at the type locality have so far been unsuccessful (Schmelz & Römbke 2005). Following these authors, the records of this species from China (Liang & Xie 1992; Wang & Liang 2002) cannot be confirmed; the specimens may or may not belong to a new species.