Pontoscolex Schmarda, 1861

James, Samuel W., Bartz, Marie L. C., Stanton, David W. G., Conrado, Ana C., Dupont, Lise, Taheri, Shabnam, Silva, Elodie Da, Cunha, Luís & Brown, George G., 2019, A neotype for Pontoscolex corethrurus (Müller, 1857) (Clitellata), Zootaxa 4545 (1), pp. 124-132 : 127

Genus Pontoscolex Schmarda, 1861

Pontoscolex Schmarda, 1861: 11 ; Beddard 1895: 653; Michaelsen 1900: 424; 1918: 233; Stephenson 1923: 489; 1930: 895; Cordero 1945: 7; Jamieson 1971: 737; Gates 1972: 53; Gates 1973: 4; Christoffersen 2008: 7.

Eurydame Kinberg, 1867: 87 , 101.

Urochaeta Perrier, 1872: 142 .

Meroscolex Černosvitov, 1934: 56 ; 1935: 25; Cordero 1945: 6; Jamieson 1971: 736.

Type species. Lumbricus corethrurus Müller, 1857

Diagnosis. Setae 8 per segment, arranged in regular rows at least in the anterior region; in the posterior the arrangement may be regular, more or less irregular or in quincunx. One pair of intraclitellar male pores, in clitellum. Three pairs of pedunculated calciferous glands in vii, viii and ix, with parallel panicled-tubular structure. Nephridial sphincters present. Sexual system metandric and metagynic.

Remarks. Righi (1995) and Christofferson (2008) place Estherella Gates, 1970 in synonymy with Pontoscolex . We do not agree with that decision and prefer to defer until more data are available. In any case, Estherella are never quincunxial, have unique circumferential canals in the anterior segments, and are biogeographically isolated from Pontoscolex , other than the three species found on Puerto Rico ( Borges & Moreno 1990). One of those, P. spiralis Borges & Moreno, 1990 , is a regional peregrine found elsewhere in the Caribbean basin.