Megascolecidae Rosa, 1891

Plisko, Jadwiga Danuta, 2010, Megadrile earthworm taxa introduced to South African soils (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae, Eudrilidae, Glossoscolecidae, Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae, Ocnerodrilidae), African Invertebrates 51 (2), pp. 289-289 : 302

Family Megascolecidae Rosa, 1891

Taxa accounted presently to Megascolecidae are continuously under study, discussion and evaluation, with various genera and families being accredited. Many species commonly distributed across the world have been frequently described as synonyms in various genera. The most common species were assembled in species groups assigned under the earliest erected species names ( Sims & Easton 1972; Easton 1982). Blakemore (2004 b), in a revision of pheretimoid earthworms, eliminated numerous synonyms and relocated some of the commonest species into different genera. In the present paper, for all cosmopolitan pheretimoid species recorded in the literature under various synonyms, comprehensive synonymies are not included. A large part of the material collected during last twenty years and housed in NMSA is recorded in the NMSAD under the broad name “ Pheretima -group”, waiting for accreditation to valid taxa. Species collected in RSA and recorded in the present paper are accommodated in the genera Amynthas (8), Metaphire (1), Perionyx (1) and Pontodrilus (1).