Chilota africanus ( Beddard, 1897 )

Plisko, Jadwiga Danuta, 2012, An annotated checklist of the South African Acanthodrilidae (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae: Acanthodrilinae, Benhamiinae), Zootaxa 3458, pp. 4-58 : 9

Chilota africanus ( Beddard, 1897)

Acanthodrilus africanus Beddard, 1897: 344 .

Acanthodrilus africanus: Reynolds & Cook 1976: 66 ; BMNH; ZMH. Chilota africana: Michaelsen 1900: 147 .

Chilota africanus: Michaelsen 1913a: 523, 1913b: 56 ; Pickford 1937: 552; Reynolds & Cook 1976: 66.

Type locality. WC, ‘From forest at George Town’ ( Beddard (1897).

Remarks. Beddard included eight specimens in the type series. Pickford (1937: 553) approved one clitellate specimen of Beddard’s type series as ‘correctly identified’ (with no number), indicating that the ‘ type material’ might be at the BMNH, and syntypes at the ZMH. Two specimens numbered 1904.10.5.821–822, marked as ‘Type’ are presently in the BMNH, and one syntype in ZMH. Michaelsen (1913a) redescribed five of Beddard’s specimens, together with two other specimens collected by E. Warren, but the present location of that material is not known. According to Pickford (1937: 553), one of the eight type specimens proved after dissection to be Chilota lucifugus ( Beddard, 1897) . Other material from Pickford collection kept at the BMNH is marked under subspecies names, see below.

Pickford (1937: 552), under the heading “ Chilota africanus ( Beddard, 1897) ”, gives a diagnosis of the species and a key to the subspecies Ch. africanus africanus Beddard, 1897 and Ch. africanus barnardi Pickford 1937 , based on the commencement of penial setal retractors. The subspecies are then described in detail. Distribution of subspecies is indicated.