Pontodrilus litoralis ( Grube, 1855 )

Plisko, Jadwiga D. & Nxele, Thembeka C., 2015, An annotated key separating foreign earthworm species from the indigenous South African taxa (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae, Eudrilidae, Glossoscolecidae, Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae, Microchaetidae, Ocnerodrilidae and Tritogeniidae), African Invertebrates 56 (3), pp. 663-663 : 700

Pontodrilus litoralis ( Grube, 1855)

Description: Length 40–75 mm. Segments ca. 100. Prostomium epilobous. Setae lumbricine, widely paired. Nephropores small near setae a lines, as from intersegmental furrow 12/13. Clitellum saddle-shaped on 12, 1–17. Male pores paired in 18 near b lines, in small depression, on porophores. Female pores paired, near aa lines, in 14. Spermathecal pores paired in two intersegmental furrows 7/8 and 8/9. Genital markings present, midventrally in intersegmental furrow 12/13, and in 19/20. Septa 5/6 attached to gizzard, 6/7–12/13 thickened. Gizzard vestigial in 5. Nephridia paired, in b lines, absent in 1–12 and 14b. Lateral hearts in 10–13. Holandric. Seminal vesicles in 11 and 12. Ovaries in 13, with no ovisacs. Prostates paired, in 18; tubular glands with thick, curving duct. Spermathecae paired in 8 and 9 respectively; each with slightly bulbous duct; ampulla with a long diverticulum. Penial setae absent. Dorsal pores absent. Calciferous glands absent. Typhlosole absent.

Notes: In RSA recorded by Michaelsen (1913) from the coastal area in KZN under the synonym bermudensis f. typicus, which Blakemore (2008 a) accredits to litoralis . More information on the species’ synonyms and its occurrence may be found in Michaelsen (1910 b) and Blakemore (2008 a).