Metaphire daliensis Yuan & Dong, 2019

Yuan, Zhu, Dong, Yan, Jiang, Jibao & Qiu, Jiangping, 2019, Three new species of earthworms belonging to the genera Amynthas and Metaphire (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Yunnanı China, Journal of Natural History 53 (31), pp. 1961-1974 : 1961-1974

Metaphire daliensis Yuan & Dong sp. nov.

Type material

Holotype. One clitellate specimen ( YN201006-03 A): China, Yunnan, Dali city (25.94° N, 100.17° E), 2010 m elevation, corn field by the stream, 10 August 2011, Y. Yang.

Other materials. Three clitellate specimens ( YN 201006 -03 B) with the same data as for holotype; three clitellate specimens ( YN 201101 -12 ): China, Yunnan, Yuanjiang National Nature Reserve (23.67° N, 101.85° E), 854 m elevation, brown loam under orchard beside the stream, 16 July 2013, J.B. Jiang, J. Sun, X.D. Lei and H.W . Feng; eight clitellate specimens ( YN201103-01 ) and one clitellate specimen ( YN201103-04 ): China, Yunnan, Yuanjiang National Nature Reserve (23.55° N, 101.92° E), 649 m elevation, black brown soil under the banana trees, 16 July 2013, J.B. Jiang, J. Sun, X.D. Lei and H.W . Feng; two clitellate specimens ( YN201107-05 ): China, Yunnan, Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve (21.61° N, 101.58° E), 694 m elevation, red soil in tropical rain forest, 20 July 2013, J.B. Jiang, J. Sun, X.D. Lei and H.W . Feng; four clitellate specimens ( YN201624-02 ): China, Yunnan, Pu’ er (24.55° N, 100.53° E), 1150 m asl, yellow soil, 29 July 2016, X. Gao, Y.F. Lu, J.Z. Jiang; one clitellate specimens ( YN201731-01 ): China, Yunnan, Ruili, Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve (26.57° N, 98.91° E), 1429 m asl, 9 August 2017, J.B. Jiang, Y. Dong, Q. Zhao, Z. Yuan; one clitellate specimens ( YN201733-04 ): China, Yunnan, Ruili, Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve (25.71° N, 98.84° E), 1279 m asl, 10 August 2017, J.B. Jiang, Y. Dong, Q. Zhao, Z . Yuan; two clitellate specimens ( YN201735-09 ): China, Yunnan, Ruili, Tongbiguan Nature Reserve (24.15° N, 98.03° E), 957 m asl, 11 August 2017, J.B. Jiang, Y. Dong, Q. Zhao, Z . Yuan; four clitellate specimens ( YN201751-01 ): China, Yunnan, Ruili, Yongdedaxueshan Nature Reserve (24.03° N, 99.39° E), 1125 m asl, 15 August 2017, J.B. Jiang, Y. Dong, Q. Zhao, Z. Yuan .

Etymology

The species is named after its type locality.

Diagnosis

Dimensions 110–143 mm by 3.9–7.2 mm; segments 111–150. Setae numbering 28–40 at III, 30–44 at V, 46–64 at VIII, 58–74 at XX, 64–74 at XXV; 18–24 (XVIII) between male pores; 18–26 (VIII) between spermathecal pores. Spermathecal pores two pairs in 7/8-8/9, about 1/3 body circumference ventrally apart. Male pores in copulatory chambers at XVIII, opening of copulatory chambers about 1/3 body circumference ventrally apart, and a slightly extended papilla on the top, surrounded with 3–5 circular folds. Prostate glands located at XVII-XIX, underdeveloped. Spermathecae two pairs, in VIII and IX, about 3.3 mm. Ampulla heart-shaped, about 3.0 mm, ampulla duct short and thick. The length of diverticulum about 3.0 mm, terminal 1/2 slightly dilated into an elongated oval-shaped seminal chamber.

External characters

Dimensions 110–143 mm by 3.9–7.2 mm; segments 111–150. No pigment anterior to segment VIII, ochre in posterior segments. First dorsal pore in 11/12. Prostomium 1/2 epilobous. Clitellum in segments XIV-XVI, beige, smooth and swollen, no setae. Setae numbering 28–40 at III, 30–44 at V, 46–64 at VIII, 58–74 at XX, 64–74 at XXV; 18–24 (XVIII) between male pores; 18–26 (VIII) between spermathecal pores. Setal formula: AA = 1.2–1.4 AB, ZZ = 1.6–2.0 ZY.

Spermathecal pores two pairs in 7/8-8/9, about 1/3 circumference ventrally apart from each other.

Female pore single in XIV.

Male pores one pair in XVIII, about 1/3 circumference ventrally apart from each other, each located in the oval copulatory chamber, and a slightly extended papilla on the top, surrounded with 3–5 circular folds. In the copulatory chambers and male pores, two papillae on the left, one papilla on the right. Copulatory chambers with stalked glands.

Internal characters

Septa 5/6-7/8, thick and muscular, 10/11-12/13 slightly thickened, 8/9-9/10 absent. Gizzard bucket-shaped, in VIII-X. Intestine enlarged distinctly at XV. Intestine caeca start at XXVII, end in XXIII, between simple and complex, yellowish brown, smooth with two processes. Hearts four pair in X-XIII, the first pair relatively small, the others larger.

The testis sacs minimum. Seminal vesicles two pairs, in XI-XII, the posterior pair is a little more developed than the anterior one. Prostate glands located at XVII-XIX, underdeveloped, ducts U-shaped, thicker at the distal part.

Spermathecae two pairs, in VIII and IX, about 3.3 mm. Ampulla heart-shaped, about 3.0 mm, ampulla duct short and thick. The length of diverticulum about 3.0 mm, terminal 1/2 slightly dilated into an elongated oval-shaped seminal chamber.

Remarks

Metaphire daliensis sp. nov. belongs to the Metaphire insulana -group, in which there are only two species ( Metaphire insulana (Gates, 1930) and Metaphire leonoris (Chen, 1946)) according to Sims and Easton (1972). A comparison of the three species ( Table 4 ), we observed that the spermathecal pores are two pairs, in 7/8-8/9, about 1/3-1/2 circumference apart ventrally; the shape of the ampulla is roughly the same with a short stalk. However, the first dorsal pore of M. daliensis is in 11/12, but M. insulana and M. lenoris are in 12/13; intestinal caeca of M. daliensis and M. insulana are between simple and complex, while M. leonoris is simple; the accessory glands near the prostate of M. daliensis and M. insulana are invisible, but M. leonoris is sessile in large masses.

We also should compare the new species to the common species Metaphire californica (Kinberg, 1867) , which belongs to the Metaphire javanica -group. In the analysis of the K2P distances of combined COI and 12S sequences, the distance between M. daliensis and M. californica is 14.0% ( Table 5 ). However, the two species are in the same clade with 70% bootstrap support ( Figure 4 ). The two species have two pairs of spermathecal pores, in 7/8-8/9 and the first dorsal pores of both species are in 11/12. But, the most obvious differences between the species are the shape of the male pores and intestinal caeca. In the former, male pores are surrounded with three to five circular folds and the papillae in the interior of the copulatory chambers are small, and copulatory chambers are with stalked glands; the intestinal caeca are between simple and complicated. Male pores of M. californica are in simple lateral slits and copulatory chambers are without stalked glands; the intestinal caeca are simple, smooth on both edges.

Figures

Figure 4. Neighbour-joining (NJ) tree of these species: based on combined analysis of COI and 12S sequences. Bootstrap values (1000 replicates) of NJ analyses are shown above/below the main lineages. Lumbricus rubellus was used as the outgroup taxa.