Allonais paraguayensis (Michaelsen, 1905)

Righi, Gilberto & Hamoui, Viviane, 2002, Oligochaeta, Naididae Of The West Indies And Adjacent Regions, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 42 (6), pp. 119-167 : 141-142

Allonais paraguayensis (Michaelsen, 1905)

Nais paraguayensis Michaelsen, 1905a: 354 ; 1905b: 306; Michaelsen & Boldt, 1932: 592; Stephenson, 1923: 61, figs. 15-16; 1931a: 301; Hyman, 1938: 126; Cordero, 1951: 235; Marcus, 1943: 23, figs. 9-13, 122-124, 129; du Bois-Reymond Marcus, 1947: 3; 1949: 1.

Nais paraguayensis f. typica Chen, 1940: 36, fig. 7A-D; Marcus, 1944: 50.

Allonais paraguayensis paraguayensis, Sperber, 1948: 203 , fig. 28B.

Allonais paraguayensis, Brinkhurst, 1966: 141 , fig. 2C; 1971a: 125, fig. 4K; 1971b: 385, figs. 7.20N, 21A; Harman, 1974: 7; 1982a: 293; Harman et al. 1988: 2237; Gavrilov, 1977: 104; 1981: 177; Di Persia, 1980a: 95.

Allonais paraguayensis ghanensis Hrabe, 1966: 384 , figs. 38-42; Lauzanne, 1968: 93, figs. 7-8.

Material : Jamaica 028: 1 specimen . Montserrat 841: 1 specimen . Marie Galante 749: 150 specimens ; 753: 3 specimens; 756A: 2 specimens. Îles des Saintes 760: 16 specimens . Martinique 767: 54 specimens . Margarita 13: 1 specimen . Bonaire 44 Ae : 4 specimens ; 44C: 8 specimens; 46: 2 specimens; 48 Bb : 11 specimens . Curaçao 891: 4 specimens . Surinam 925: 4 specimens ; 927: 2 specimens. Habitat : Limnetic to oligohalinbe; salinity 0.05-1.45 %.

Distribution: The species is mainly known between the parallels of 30°N and 30°S in Australia ( Brinkhurst, 1971a), Asia ( Stephenson, 1923; Chen, 1940), Africa ( Michaelsen, 1905b; Brinkhurst, 1966). Neotropical Region: Argentina: Prov. Santa Fe ( Di Persia, 1980a). Uruguay ( Cordero, 1951). Paraguay ( Michaelsen, 1905a; Stephenson, 1931a). Peru: Dept. Loreto ( Harman et al., 1988). Brazil: States São Paulo, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Ceará, Pará, Amazonas ( Marcus, 1943; 1944; du Bois-Reymond Marcus, 1947; 1949). Surinam ( Harman, 1974). Nicaragua ( Harman, 1982a). Curaçao, Bonaire, Margarita, Martinique, Îles des Saintes, Marie Galante, Montserrat, Jamaica (Righi & Hamoui).

Remarks: Four varieties (subspecies) of Nais paraguayensis were described: aequalis Stephenson (1920), barkudensis Stephenson (1921), ghanensis Hrabe (1966) and Dero (Aulophorus) paraguayensis aequatorialis Cernosvitov (1938b) . The impropriety to put paraguayensis under Dero was demonstrated by Sperber (1948). The taxonomical value of aequalis, barkudensis and aequatorialis is seem sometimes at subspecific level ( Stephenson, 1923; Marcus, 1943; Grimm, 1974), sometimes as single synonyms of paraguayensis ( Sperber, 1948; Brinkhurst, 1971b; Harman et al. 1988). We consider aequalis, barkudensis and aequatorialis as independent species due to differences in the origin of the dorsal setae, shape of the needles and of the anterior ventral setae and because the circumtropical distribution of the typic form of paraguayensis makes difficult the subspecific isolation. According to Hrabe (1966) the distinction between Allonais paraguayensis ghanensis Hrabe (1966) and A. p. paraguayensis Michaelsen (1905) is based only on the degree of thickness of the atrophic distal tooth of the nedles. The great variability of this tooth, a characteristic of every atrophic structure, does not allow the specific distiction of ghanensis.