Drawida thurstoni Gates, 1945

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 : 7-8

Drawida thurstoni Gates, 1945

Drawida thurstoni Gates, 1945. Jl. R. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 11: 71.

Material examined.

2 clitellate, 4 aclitellate (ACESSD/EW/183), Kanjipara (11°26'16.4"N; 76°7'41.7"E), Kozhikode district, Kerala, India, 2000 m a.s.l., Shola forest, 23 December 2012, T. Augustine, S.P. Narayanan, A. Sasi and S. Sathrumithra coll.

Diagnosis.

Length 185-220 mm, diameter 7-8 mm, 166-187 segments. Setae aa = 12-13.33 ab = 1.06-1.11 bc = 12-16 cd = 0.21-0.23 dd at segment 8; aa = 13.66-14 ab = 1.13-1.23 bc = 20.5-21 cd = 0.24-0.28 dd at segment 20. Male pores paired, transverse slits at 10/11, about mid bc. Spermathecal pores paired, minute at 7 /8, close to setae c lines. Nephridiopores on or close to setae d lines, occasionally dislocated into setae a, b on some segments behind clitellum. Genital markings absent. Gizzards 5, in segments 14-22. Prostates glandular, mushroom-shaped, stalked and erect, laterally compressed, glandular lining restricted to ental end; prostatic capsule vertical, ovoid; vas deferens coiled in to a cluster of hairpin loops; vas discharging into anterior face of prostate at ectal end. Spermathecae paired in segment 8; atrium irregularly ovoid, covered over by a thin layer of muscle, in segment 7 only or slightly extending to segment 8.

Distribution.

India: Kerala: District Kozhikode: Kanjipara (new record) (Fig. 2); Tamil Nadu: District Nilgiris: Nilgiri Hills ( Gates 1945).

Remarks.

Range of the length, diameter, and number of segments of the Kerala specimens are 171-176 mm, 7.5-8 mm, and 183-185 respectively.