Malagabdella vagans ( Blanchard, 1917 )

BORDA, ELIZABETH, 2006, A Revision of the Malagabdellinae (Arhynchobdellida: Domanibdellidae), with a Description of a New Species, Malagabdella niarchosorum, from Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, American Museum Novitates 3531 (1), pp. 1-16 : 9-11

Malagabdella vagans ( Blanchard, 1917)

Figures 16–23

Haemadipsa vagans Blanchard, 1917: 665 , fig. 14. Haemadipsa vagans — Soos, 1967: 426. Malagabdella vagans — Richardson, 1975: 142;

Richardson, 1978: 860–863, fig. 4 A–D); Sawyer,

1986: 762.

TYPE MATERIAL: Syntype, Madagascar — east coast forests, 1882, Lantz ( MNHN 751 ; no. 143; N 5 1) . Syntype, Madagascar — Montagne d’Ambre, Diego-Suarez, 1890, Dr. Catat? ( MNHN 802 ; N 5 3) .

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: Six specimens ( AMNH 5288 , Annelida) fixed in 95% ethanol and six specimens ( AMNH 5289 , Annelida ) fixed in formalin (two specimens used for SEM), in forest adjacent to town of Andasibe ,, 3 km from entrance of Analamazoatra ( Perinet Special Reserve ) ( MG02-04 ), near the Antananarivo – Taomasina railroad, March 3, 2002 .

Brilliant green or orange when alive. Pale in color, almost neutral when fixed. Only markings found dorsally are paramedial wavy lines that become faded posteriorly. Dorsal and ventral papillae present (fig. 16).

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male atrium (a), small bulbous ejaculatory bulbs (eb) and coiled epididymes (e). 15. Female reproductive system showing paired globular ovaries, each with independent oviducts that converge into the common oviduct (co) that inserts into a simple vaginal tube (vt).

Duognathous, monostichodont jaws armed with serrated edge of minute teeth (fig. 17). Cephalic somites with five pairs of eyespots, one on each of II, III, IV, V, and VI. Somites II, III, and IV uni-annulate, V and VI twoannulate and three-annulate, respectively, VII three-annulate. Midbody somites VIII–XXIII five-annulate. Nephropores lateral in furrow of b2/a 2 in each somite, with first nephropore observed in IX b2/a2. XXIV– XXVII uniannulate (fig. 18). Six annuli between XXIII a2 and anus. Respiratory auricles present, bilobed, and formed along the lateral margins of XXIV a2 to XXVII. Caudal sucker, ventral, with 58 friction rays ventral on sucker. Small prehensile lobe present (fig. 19).

General organization and regional morphology of male and female reproductive systems not typical haemadipsoid (figs. 20–23). Male genital pore opens at the furrow of XI b5/b6 and the female genital pore opens at the furrow of XIII b1/b2 (fig. 20). Gonopores separated by seven complete annuli. Median reproductive system micromorphic and entirely in XI (figs. 21, 22). Male atrium bulbous. Short ejaculatory ducts exit the atrium ventrally in anterior XI and run laterally, posteriorly directed, giving rise to small ovoid ejaculatory bulbs. Epididymes, small, approximately the size of the ejaculatory bulbs, tightly coiled, and recurve anteriad at XII. Median female reproductive system micromorphic (fig. 23). Single pair of globular ovaries in XII, with short thin walled oviducts that coil and converge into the common oviduct. The common oviduct is tightly coiled in the median and exits in XIII. Oviducal glandular sac and muscular vaginal tube absent.

REMARKS: Richardson (1975) noted a resemblance in the somital annulation pattern of H. vagans to Idiobdella seychellensis and, therefore, originally included H. vagans as a member of the genus Idiobdella . Richardson (1978) revised his previous classification of the leeches of Madagascar based on a specimen from the collection of the National Museum of Natural History that he identified as Malagabdella vagans ( U.S. Nat. Mus. Cat. No. 55386; Acc. 242082; 2 km east of Perinet, Tamatave Province; off human skin). This resulted in the revision of the genus Malagabdella , the removal of the genus from Idiobdellidae, and the establishment of the Malagabdellinae ( Richardson, 1978) .

Interestingly, Richardson (1978) reported that the specimen of M. vagans was engorged with blood and with the ‘‘annulation obliterated’’. Furthermore, it does not appear that he examined any type material for this species. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that the annulation patterns he described and illustrat- ed for this species came from this specimen (see also M. fallax REMARKS), but rather a conversion of the annulation patterns described by Blanchard (1917). In his revision, Richardson (1978) described the male reproductive system for Malagasy leeches based on this USNM specimen of M. vagans . This resulted in an overgeneralization for the characteristics of male reproductive systems for the Malagabdella species. It should be mentioned that the observation of the male system was facilitated by the USNM specimen having been ‘‘split through transversely at XII/ XIII providing access to the anterior portion of the male paired system and the male median region’’ ( Richardson, 1978: 863), yet he illustrates the majority of male system (i.e., atrium and ejaculatory bulbs and epididymes) found within XI.

Figures

Figs. 16–23. Malagabdella vagans. 16. Dorsal view showing beige background field with paramedial wavy lines that fade posteriorly. 17. Anterior view of cephalic somites, with partial view of the right five eyespots (arrows) and a set of producible duognathous jaws (j). 18. Lateral view of the posterior somital