Glossiphonia balcanica Grosser & Pešić, 2016

Grosser, Clemens, Pešić, Vladimir, Berlajolli, Violeta & Gligorović, Bogić, 2016, Glossiphonia balcanica n. sp. and Dina prokletijaca n. sp. (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae, Erpobdellidae) - two new leeches from Montenegro and Kosovo, Ecologica Montenegrina 8, pp. 17-26 : 18-20

Glossiphonia balcanica Grosser & Pešić n. sp.

( Figure 1 A-E)

Synonymy. Glossiphonia nebulosa Utevsky et al. 2013 nec Kalbe, 1964: p. 123, fig. 2. Glossiphonia cf. nebulosa Grosser et al. 2015a nec Kalbe, 1964 partim: p. 21, fig. 1B.

Type material. Holotype ( SMF 19961 ), KOSOVO, KS40 Dečani / Decan, Lebush, spring Toplla , 42°34'19"N, 20°17'26"E, 10.5.2014, leg. Berlajolli, body length 10 mm, width 8 mm . Paratypes ( SMF 19962 ) : eight specimens (body length/width: 8/7.5, 8/7, 8/6, 9/8, 8/7, 7/5.5, 7/7[breeding], 5/4.5[breeding] mm), same locality and data as holotype, 21.12.2014, leg. Berlajolli , 2 specimens; 24.1.2015, leg. Berlajolli, 6 specimens; 27.2.2015, leg. Berlajolli, 2 specimens; 30.4.2015 leg. Berlajolli, 4 specimens; 26.9.2015, leg. Berlajolli, one specimen. Five paratypes are deposited in the SMF, other paratypes in the first author’s collection

Further records (published in Grosser et al. 2015a as „ Glossiphonia nebulosa “). MONTENEGRO: Podgorica , Mareza spring, 42°28'47.92"N, 19°10'56.09"E, 08.iv.2005 Pešić & Grosser, 9 specimens ; ibid., 08.10.2005 Pešić, 2 specimens ; Podgorica , Mareza canal, 42°28'26.86"N, 19°10'47.37"E, 04.2.2006 Pešić, one specimen ; ibid., 08.4.2005 Pešić & Grosser, 8 specimens ; Skadar Lake , sublacustrine spring Karuč, 42°21'29.80"N, 19°6'20.84"E, 09.8.2006 Pešić & Grosser, 6 specimens ; Cetinje , River Crnojevića, stillwater channel near River Crnojevića, 42°21'17.78"N, 19°1'11.14"E, 09.8.2006 Pešić & Grosser, 16 specimens ; little stream and pool near Crno Jezero (Black Lake), 43°9'6.87"N, 19°6'6.89"E, 11.8.2006 Pešić & Grosser, 5 specimens . Danilovgrad , River Zeta near village Martinići, 42°32'10.59"N, 19°9'38.66"E, 13.8.2015 Pešić, one specimen .

Comparative material examined. Glossiphonia nebulosa Kalbe, 1964 : KOSOVO, KS40 Dečani / Decan, Lebush, spring Toplla, 42°34'19"N, 20°17'26"E, 10.5.2014, leg. Berlajolli, 25 specimens (length/width: 11/6, 10/5, 9.5/7, 9.5/7, 9/6.5, 9/6, 9/6, 9/6, 9/6, 8/7, 8/6, 8/6, 8/6, 8/6, 8/6, 8/5, 8/5, 8/5, 8/5, 7.5/6, 7.5/5, 7.5/5, 7/6, 7/5, 7/ 4.5 mm); ibid., 16.11.2014, 5 specimens ; ibid., 21.12.2014, one specimen ; ibid., 24.01.2015, 8 specimens ; ibid., 27.02.2015, 7 specimens ; ibid., 30.04.2015, one specimen ; ibid., 29.08.2015, 2 specimens ; ibid., 26.09.2015, 3 specimens .

Diagnosis. Dorsal surface amber-coloured; prominent paramedian papillae on annulus a2, further small and inconspicuous papillae irregularly arranged on dorsal surface; three pairs of distinct and well visible eyes in two parallel rows; the cranial sucker without median fold.

Description

Habitus: Small leeches, preserved specimens up to 10 mm in lenght and 8 mm in width, only slightly longer than width ( Fig. 1A ). The body dorsoventrally flattened, oval in shape and with a slightly bulbous head. Dorsally there are prominent paramedian papillae on annulus a2, further small and inconspicuous papillae irregularly arranged on dorsal surface. The ventral surface without papillae. The cranial sucker small, transverse oval, without median fold ( Fig. 1C ).

Annulation: The midbody somites typically triannulate; the annuli equally wide. Gonopores separated by two annuli.

Colour: The colour of the dorsal surface in living specimens bright brownish (amber-coloured). Dorsally there is one pair of continuous dark paramedian longitudinal stripes; sometimes the paramedian stripes are interrupted by papillae on annulus a2. Dark or yellow spots absent, a yellow spotted sideband absent. The ventral surface one-coloured and brighter than the dorsal surface.

Eyes: Three pairs of distinct and well visible eyes in two parallel rows, the frontal pair of eyes smaller than the following two pairs, the middle pair usually largest ( Fig. 1D ); reductions or fusions of eyes not observed.

Digestive system: The crop has six pairs of caeca.

Etymology. The species is named after its presence in the Western Balkan.

Differential diagnosis. Glossiphonia balcanica n. sp. resembles to G. concolor (Apathy, 1888) and G. nebulosa Kalbe, 1964 . With the later species, G. balcanica n. sp. share similar colour and presence of two narrow, uninterrupted dark paramedian lines on one-coloured dorsal surface. However, in G. nebulosa the stripes are sometimes absent (see: Nesemann and Neubert 1999). The both species can be separated by the colour which is bright brownish (amber-coloured) in G. balcanica n. sp. but more greyish in the specimens of G. nebulosa (compare Fig. 1E and - F ). Due to the colour of body Glossiphonia balcanica n. sp. is similar to G. concolor , but the latter species can be distinguished by the presence of three pairs of dark stripes on dorsal surface with the inner paramedian one very prominent and interrupted irregularly on annulus a2 (see: Nesemann and Neubert 1999). Moreover the new species resembles G. concolor in the position of eyes. On the other hand in G. nebulosa the frontal pair of eyes is very small (sometimes reduced) while the middle and posterior pairs are often more or less fused ( Fig. 1F inset). A further distinctive difference between the compared species refers to the arrangement and shape of dorsal papillae. Dorsal surface of G. balcanica n. sp. is covered by a few small irregularly arranged papillae and the prominent paramedian papillae located only on annulus a2. G. nebulosa has three pairs of prominent papillae situated on two annuli (a2 and a3) while G. concolor has a smooth body surface without prominent papillae ( Nesemann and Neubert 1999). A further difference between G. balcanica n. sp. and G. nebulosa regard the median fold on the cranial sucker. This median fold, lacking in G. balcanica n. sp., is prominent in the population of G. nebulosa from Kosovo ( Fig. 1F inset) but only slightly developed in the population of the later species from its locus typicus in Germany.

Remarks. Variability was found in body dimensions (5-10 mm in length, 4.5-8 mm in width); some breeding specimens with almost half of maximum size were found.

Discussion. Utevsky et al. (2013) reported Glossiphonia nebulosa from Skadar Lake and mentioned that the dorsal surface of examined specimens bears small papillae. Later on Grosser et al. (2015a) stated that the specimens from Skadar Lake clearly differ from the typical nebulosa specimens by the reduced papillae. The records of Utevsky et al. (2013) and Grosser et al. (2015a) should be ascertained to species described here as G. balcanica n. sp.

The finding of a new species living sympatrically with G. nebulosa in the locus typicus clearly demonstrated that we are dealing with two separate species. The occurrence of two or more Glossiphonia species, living sympatrically in the same water bodies is not unusual. Nesemann (1990) demonstrated that association of three Glossiphonia species ( G. verrucata , G. complanata , G. paludosa or G. concolor ) is frequent in the Danubian regions of Austria and Hungary.

Habitat: Glossiphonia balcanica n. sp. occurs in small to medium-sized fast running waters, but also in large standing waters (Skadar Lake - Utevsky et al., 2013). At the locus typicus (spring Toplla, Kosovo) leeches were collected from March to December, with peak in winter and spring.

Distribution: Montenegro and Kosovo, widespread and common in the Mediterranean part of Montenegro.

Figures

Figure 1. Glossiphonia balcanica n. sp., paratype A = dorsal view; B = ventral view; C = cranial sucker; D = eyes. Photographs: E = G. balcanica n. sp., holotype, dorsal view (inset: eyes). F = G. nebulosa, spring Toplla, Kosovo, dorsal view (insets: left – eyes, right - cranial sucker).