Udeina reichei ( Ude, 1905 )

Plisko, Jadwiga Danuta, 2004, Review of the balantine genus Udeina Michaelsen, 1910 with descriptions of six new species in South Africa (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae, Acanthodrilinae), African Invertebrates 45 (1998), pp. 287-287 : 309-311

Udeina reichei ( Ude, 1905)

Figs 21–23

Holoscolex reichei Ude, 1905: 421 ; Reynolds & Cook 1976: 162.

Udeina reichei: Michaelsen 1907: 32, 1912: 4 , 5; Zicsi 1998: 68.

Udeina kinbergi [partim]: Pickford 1937: 416.

Udeina kinbergi: Ljungström 1972: 105 .

Material examined: NMSA /Olig.01097, 2 clitellate, 7 juvenile, Free State: Warrenton, near bank of the Vaal River at motor bridge, in grass, near potato field, 13 March 1967, P. O. Ljungström & A. J. Reinecke .

External features:

Body cylindrical, alcohol­preserved yellowish­grey, clitellate 110–112 mm long, 5 mm wide. Segment number: 153. Prostomium: tanylobous, clear sutures. Setae: preclitellarly aa <bc; ab <cd; bc> cd; dd> 2 1 U. Dorsal pores: not observed. Nephridial pores: not observed. Spermathecal pores: in intersegmental furrow 7/8, in small swellings, in front of b setae. Female pores: paired in 14. Clitellum : saddle­shaped, on 13–17, orangebrown, laterally extending to a setae. Prostatic pores: one pair in segment 18, on papillae. Male pores: paired, in 17 on small papillae. Seminal grooves: shallow, crescentic depressions between prostatic and male pores. Papillae: not observed.

Internal characters:

Salivary glands: small, not extending backwards beyond septum 4/5. Gizzard: in segment 5, cylindrical, soft, slightly muscular. Septa: 4/5–5/6 thin, 6/7–12/13 much thickened; the thickest 11/12. Intestine: commences in 17. Lateral hearts: in 8–13, last pair in 13. Nephridia: extended loops without terminal vesicles. Ovaries: in 13, rosette­shaped funnels. Testes and spermiductal funnels: spermiductal funnels free, ventrally in segment 10. Vasa deferentia : anteriorly covered by thick tissues of body wall; posteriorly extending through 13–16, entering behind intersegmental furrow 16/17, and into male pores in 17. Seminal vesicles: two pairs; in 9 and 11; anterior pair slightly smaller then posterior. Spermathecae ( Fig. 21): in segment 8. Ampulla large, roughly spherical, attached to duct by wide opening. Duct thick, muscular, nearly as long as ampulla, entering body wall in intersegmental furrow 7/8. Diverticulum attached to duct at its base, knob­like, large, chambered. Prostates ( Fig. 22): one pair, extending through segments 17–20. Prostatic glands multi­folded, looped, passing irregularly backwards through segments 17–20; thin septa of occupied segments partly pierced where accommodating glands. Prostatic duct soft, elongated, connected with prostatic gland at posterior part of segment 17; evidently entering into prostatic pore in segment 18. Penial setae ( Figs 22–23): a and b similar in size and shape. Penial setal retractor muscles: thin, commence posteriorly to septum 17/18.

Discussion: The description of the specimens bearing the label ‘ U. kinbergi ’ given by Ljungström (1972) differs from this one, although the presently examined sample has the same locality data given in his paper. Some differences can be attributed to decomposition of material, and the possibility that Ljungström examined other individuals of the sample. Unfortunately, he did not supply any information on external or internal positions of prostate and male pores. From comparative data supplied in his Table 2, it is evident that the material he examined was classified erroneously as U. kinbergi . The present examination of specimens from the same sample shows the species to be U. reichei .

In the original description, Ude (1905) recorded that the prostatic pores are fused with the male pores in segment 18. However, after a study of initially badly preserved and consequently decomposed U. reichei type material, Pickford (1937) reported the independent opening of vas deferens and its entry into the male pore in segment 17, and synonymised U. reichei with U. kinbergi on this basis. Zicsi (1998) reinstated U. reichei and proposed it as the type species for the genus Udeina . This, however, was not in accordance with the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (1999), as the genus was monotypic, and material of U. kinbergi , although decomposed and difficult to examine, still exists and awaits study.