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Vol. 38 No. 4, 1999
A Review of the Earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) from Taiwan
Hsi-Te Shih1,2,*, Hsueh-Wen Chang2 and Jiun-Hong Chen3
1Institute of Marine Biology, 2Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 804
2Department of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 106
Hsi-Te Shih, Hsueh-Wen Chang and Jiun-Hong Chen (1999)
The study of earthworms of Taiwan began with the Japanese scholars Goto
and Hatai (1898). The collecting sites from available publications are
limited to Ilan, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Kaohsiung, and
Pingtung. A total of 26 species belonging to 9 genera are recorded in
Taiwan: Drawida japonica (Michaelsen, 1892), Aporrectodea trapezoides (Dugès, 1828), Bimastus parvus (Eisen, 1874), Perionyx excavatus Perrier, 1872, Amynthas aspergillum (Perrier, 1872), Am. candidus (Goto and Hatai, 1898), Am. corticus (Kinberg, 1867), Am. formosae (Michaelsen, 1922), Am. gracilis (Kinberg, 1867), Am. hsinpuensis (Kuo, 1995), Am. hupeiensis (Michaelsen, 1895), Am. incongruus (Chen, 1933), Am. minimus (Horst, 1893), Am. morrisi (Beddard, 1892), Am. omeimontis polyglandularis (Tsai, 1964), Am. papulosus (Rosa, 1896), Am. robustus (Perrier, 1872), Am. swanus (Tsai, 1964), Am. taipeiensis (Tsai, 1964), Am. yuhsi (Tsai, 1964), Polypheretima elongata (Perrier, 1872), Metaphire californica (Kinberg, 1867), M. posthuma (Vaillant, 1869), M. schmardae schmardae (Horst, 1883), Pithemera bicincta (Perrier, 1875), and Dichogaster bolaui
(Michaelsen, 1891). Among these species, 9 species were published as
new species from Taiwan. Three holotype specimens can be found in the
museums, but the rest can not be located. One species, Amynthas
asiaticus Michaelsen, 1900 was not included in the list because it
appeared in non-taxonomic references with no description. The present
paper reviews the studies on Taiwanese earthworms, and lists species
published from Taiwan according to current classification and their
collecting sites. Some mistakes in the literature about Taiwanese
earthworms are also discussed.
Key words: Pheretima, Taxonomy.
*Correspondence Tel: 886-7-5252000 ext. 3614. Fax: 886-7-5253614. E-mail: htshih@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
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