Dichogaster saliens (Beddard, 1893)

Narayanan, S. Prasanth, Thomas, Basil, Sunish, K. S., Anuja, R., Sathrumithra, S., Smija, M. K., Christopher, G., Thomas, A. P. & Julka, J. M., 2020, First record of exotic Dichogaster saliens (Beddard, 1893) and Metaphire posthuma (Vaillant, 1868) (Annelida: Clitellata) from Kerala state, Southern India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 120 (2), pp. 161-166 : 162

Dichogaster saliens (Beddard, 1893)

1893. Microdrilus saliens Beddard, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1892: 683 .

2017. Dichogaster saliens : Kumari et al., Megadrilogica, 22 (1): 25.

Material examined: 2 clitellate, Regn. No. ACESSD/ EW/649, India, Kerala, Palakkad District, Vagapallam in Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, 10°27’38.7”N 76°43’01.1” E, alt. 652 m, 3.vii.2016, from elephant dung and soil below in moist deciduous forest, coll. S.P. Narayanan, S. Sathrumithra, T. Augustine and V. Vijayan; 2 clitellate, Regn. No. ACESSD/EW/875, India, Kerala, Wayanad District , Kulivayal, 11°46’44” N 76°31’3.0”E, 24.iii.2018, rubber plantation, coll. B. Thomas ( Figure. 1 ) .

Description: Length 37-49 mm, diameter 2 mm, segments 83-121; lumbricine, closely paired; prostomium epilobous; first dorsal pore at intersegmental furrow 13/19; clitellum saddle shaped, in segments 13-19; male pores paired, minute, posterior ends of seminal grooves, close to 17/18; prostatic pores paired, minute, at anterior ends of seminal grooves on segment 17; female pores paired, presetal, surrounded by a circular epidermal thickening in segment 14; spermathecal pores paired, minute, at intersegmental furrows 7/8/9; genital markings present, disc like in 15/16; gizzards 2; oesophageal calciferous glands 3 pairs, in segment 15-17; intestine begins in segment 19; typhlosole present; meronephric; prostate tubular, one pair in segment 17; penial setae sinuous ectally, ornamented;

spermathecae paired, each shortly stalked, diverticulum ventrally directed at about the middle of slightly bulbous duct, smaller than ampulla.

Distribution: INDIA: Kerala (Kulivayal [Wayanad district] and Vagapallam [Palakkad district] – present records, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu ( Kathireswari et al., 2008; Goswami et al., 2013; Rajkhowa et al., 2015; Kumari et al., 2017), West Bengal (Stephenson, 1920). Elsewhere: It is a peregrine species with cosmopolitan distribution, so far recorded from Asia (Christmas Island, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam), Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda), Europe (Sweden), Americas (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii Islands, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, United States of America) and Pacific (Australia) (Gates, 1972; Julka, 1988; Blakemore, 2012).

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution of Dichogaster saliens and Metaphire posthuma in Kerala.