Amynthas cf. corticis (Kinberg, 1867)

Blakemore, Robert J., Lee, Seunghan & Seo, Hong-Yul, 2015, Account of montane and insular speciation in some Korean megadriles (Annelida: Oligochaeta), Journal of Species Research 4 (1), pp. 1-22 : 3-4

Amynthas cf. corticis (Kinberg, 1867) ( Fig. 2B ).

Perichaeta corticis Kinberg, 1867: 102 . [Type locality Oahu, the main Hawaii Island. Types in the Stockholm Museum: 1947, possibly immature] (part.?).

? Megascolex (Perichaeta) diffringens Baird, 1869: 40 , figs. 1-3. [From Y Plas Machynlleth, Wales, UK. Type in British Museum: BMNH 1869 :1:2:1 inspected by author ( Blakemore, 2013d: fig. 9)].

Material. IV 0000261360 (DNA HY19), a mature specimen from Yeomiji Botanical Gardens, Seogwipo, Jeju collected by RJB 5 th Sept., 2013. Unfortunately, IV 0000261287, a mature specimen collected 25 th April, 2013 from Dongnae Botanic Gardens, Busan with DNA tissue sample HY3 as described by Blakemore (2013: 132) failed to yield results on second attempt and cannot be characterized further.

Distribution. Widespread cosmopolitan, origin unknown, recorded from mainland Korea, e.g., Blakemore (2013: 103, figs. 4-7), also from Jeju, e.g., by Blakemore (2012a: 26, fig. 7) [many specimens but please note: six specimens in sample IV0000251209 were mislabelled in Blakemore (2012: 26) as “IV0000251208”].

Description. Full details and distribution provided by Blakemore (2012f) “ Cosmopolitan Earthworms ”, compared to A. corticis saeseum Blakemore, 2012a: 26 , fig. 7 and to A. diffringens (Baird, 1869) by Blakemore (2013d).

Remarks. The current specimen’s sample HY19 appears to conform to A. corticis group- 1 in the phylogram of Blakemore (2013: 101, fig. 1), e.g., 100% agreement with WM7 ( A. corticis from Arataki Honey, N.Z.), “ Amynthas corticis ” (DQ224190.1 from Taiwan) and 100% “ Amynthas diffringens ” (EF077548.1, EF077550.1 from China), also with w59 ( A. corticis from Incheon)=639/ 639 (100%) but differs slightly from w25 (“ A. diffringens ?” from Jeju)=635/639 (99%). The current dissected sample agrees superficially with A. diffringens type as figured by Blakemore (2013d: fig. 9) and thus may be taken as representative of this taxon.

Moreover, HY19 differs substantially from A. corticis group-2 taxa such as WM9 ( A. corticis from Korea)= 597/640 (93%) and w33 (A. c. saeseum from Jeju)=597/ 639 (93%) also with JET020 and JET055 both from Japan =597/639 (93%) needing further clarification.

Figures

Fig. 2. 2A Metaphire californica (Kinberg, 1867) providing DNA HY17; 2B Amynthas cf. corticis (Kinberg, 1867) with GMs complying rather with A. diffringens (Baird, 1869) providing DNA HY19; 2C-E Amynthas gracilis (Kinberg, 1867) providing DNA tissue samples HY14-16, respectively.