Perionyx fossus Stephenson, 1920

Kharkongor, Ilona J., 2018, Taxonomic and ecological studies on the earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) of West Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 118 (1), pp. 56-56 : 56-

16. Perionyx fossus Stephenson, 1920

1920. Perionyx fossus Stephenson, Mem. Ind. Mus. , 7: 214.

Material examined: 1 ex. Regn. No. IV/ANN/NERC-49. India, Meghalaya, WKH District, Nongstoiñ – Markasa road, about 4 km from Makasa , N25 o 31’51.0”; E91 o 22’58.5”; Alt. 1514m, 25.vi.2010, coll. I.J.Kharkongor and party .

Diagnosis: Length 85-86 mm. Segments 136. Epilobic. Perichaetine. Dorsal pores from 4/5. Spermathecal pore paired in 7/8 and 8/9. Clitellum annular, from 13-17. Female pore median on 14. Male pores on 18, in cracks at the junction of the floor and sides of the deep, squarish depression marking the male field.

Septa 9/10 slightly thickened. Soft, large gizzard in 6. Intestine from 17. Seminal vesicles in 11 and 12; those in 11 fused dorsally, and those in 12 fused in their hinder parts, which extend back to 13.

Distribution: INDIA: Meghalaya (EKHD WKHD).

Remarks: This is a rare, endemic species known from Meghalaya only. It is an epi-anecic species living on surface of moist soils covered with vegetable matter in various stages of decay. It feeds on this decaying matter, and on the microbes associated with such ecological niches. Recorded, herein, for the first time from WKHD.