Drawida elegans Rao, 1921

Narayanan, S. Prasanth, Sathrumithra, S., Christopher, G. & Julka, J. M., 2017, New species and new records of earthworms of the genus Drawida from Kerala part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India (Oligochaeta, Moniligastridae), ZooKeys 691, pp. 1-18 : 3-4

Drawida elegans Rao, 1921

Drawida elegans Rao, 1921. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (ser. 9), 8: 519.

Drawida elegans , Stephenson 1923. Fauna Br. India, Oligochaeta: 137.

Material examined.

7 aclitellate (ACESSD/EW/404), Paithalmala (12°10'1.7"N; 75°33'31.1"E), Kannur district, Kerala, India, 1076 m a.s.l., higher altitude evergreen forest, 30 November 2012, S.P. Narayanan, T. Augustine and S. Sathrumithra coll.

Diagnosis.

Length 130 mm, diameter 5 mm, 206 segments. Setae aa = 20 ab = 1.2 bc = 20 cd on segment 7, aa = 27 ab = 1.7 bc = 27 cd on mid body segments. Male pores paired, small, at 10/11, slightly lateral to setae b lines, at centres of slightly raised oval papillae. Spermathecal pores paired, at 7/8, at setae c lines. Gizzards 5, in segments 12-16. Prostates glandular, sessile, elongated; vas deferens long, coiled into a mass of hairpin loops, discharging directly at ental end of prostate. Spermathecae paired, in segment 8; atrium large, shortly pear-shaped, narrower ectal end; spermathecal duct discharging at ental end of atrium.

Distribution.

India: Kerala: District Kannur: Paithalmala (new record) (Fig. 2); Karnataka: District Kodagu (Coorg): Bhagamandla, Coorg Hills ( Rao 1921).

Remarks.

Range of the length, diameter, and number of segments in the Kerala specimens are 83-117 mm, 5-6 mm, and 161-171 respectively. Three gizzards in the present specimens in segments 12-14. Mass of vas deferens loops is shorter than testis sac.