Vol. 49 No. 4, 2010
Six New Earthworms of the Genus Pheretima (Oligochaeta:
Megascolecidae) from Balbalan-Balbalasang, Kalinga Province, the
Philippines
Yong
Hong1 and Samuel W. James2,*
1Department
of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Science,
Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Korea
2Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas,
Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Yong
Hong1 and Samuel W. James (2010)
Six new species of the genus Pheretima
are described from forested
lands near the village of Balbalasang in Barangay Balbalan, Kalinga
Province, Luzon I., the Philippines: Pheretima
kalingaensis sp. nov.,
Pheretima aguinaldoi sp.
nov., Pheretima balbalanensis
sp. nov.,
Pheretima banaoi sp.
nov., Pheretima pugnatoris
sp. nov., and Pheretima
tabukensis sp. nov. Pheretima
kalingaensis sp. nov. and P.
aguinaldoi sp. nov. have spermathecal pores in 6/7, which are
0.09-0.16
and 0.21 circumferences apart, respectively. Pheretima
balbalanensis sp. nov. and P.
banaoi sp. nov. belong to the dubia-group
of Sims and Easton (1972) with 3 pairs of spermathecal pores in
6/7-8/9. In P. balbalanensis
sp. nov., the penis is a transverse
ridge with an apical pore, but in P.
banaoi sp. nov. the penis is a
small elliptical bump. Pheretima
pugnatoris sp. nov. and P.
tabukensis sp. nov. belong to the darnleiensis-group of Sims and
Easton
(1972) with 4 pairs of spermathecal pores in 5/6-8/9. Pheretima
pugnatoris sp. nov. has pale pigmentation, lacks septa 8/9/10,
and has
a typhlosole. Pheretima
tabukensis sp. nov. has dark pigmentation
including part of the ventral surface, has septa 8/9/10, and lacks a
typhlosole. Descriptions of the new species are provided,
including illustrations of the ventral view, and representative
spermathecae. The reproductive anatomy suggests that the penes of
the Philippine darnleiensis-group
members are not intromittent organs,
and that some of the non-darnleiensis
group members were derived from
the darnleiensis-group.
Key words: Earthworms, Megascolecidae,
Pheretima, New species,
the Philippines.
*Correspondence: E-mail:sjames@ku.edu
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