Fridericia globuligera Rota, 1995

Chen, Juanjuan, Zhang, Junqian & Xie, Zhicai, 2025, List of species records of enchytraeids (Enchytraeidae, Clitellata, Annelida) in China, Zootaxa 5566 (1), pp. 61-96 : 71-72

? Fridericia globuligera Rota, 1995 (T)

Fridericia globuligera Rota, 1995 ; Schmelz 2003.

? Fridericia globuligera Chen 2009 .

Distribution and habitat. Italy, Austria and Ireland ( Schmelz 2003). Often in moist soils, rich in plant debris ( Schmelz 2003).

Distribution in China. Guizhou Province (Chen 2009).

Remarks. Chen (2009) recorded F. globuligera for the first time in China, her description can be translated as follows: Brown-yellow worms, fast-moving. Length 8–10 mm. Segments 44–48. Dorsal pore beginning at VII. Chaetae not more than 4 per bundle, lateral chaetae 2–4 per bundle; ventral preclitellar chaetae 4 per bundle, ventral postclitellar chaetae 2 per bundle. Epidermal gland cells rectangular, one row at chaetal level. Clitellum in XII–1/2XIII, significantly elevated, cell arrangement irregular. Bursal slit longitudinal. Brain ca. 150 μm long and 75 μm wide, posteriorly rounded or truncate. A pair of oesophageal appendages unbranched, short, coiled in IV or extend to V. Three pairs of pharyngeal glands, the first pair with wide dorsal connection, the second pair with narrow connection or dorsally separate, the third pair separate; ventral lobe present in the second and third pair. Chloragocytes granular, from VI, covering the gut and making it brown-black. Origin of dorsal blood vessel in XVIII–XIX, blood colourless. 4 pairs of preclitellar nephridia from 6/7–9/10, medial origin of efferent duct.

Coelomocytes. Two types of coelomocytes. Mucocytes ca. 25 μm in diameter, with refractile vesicles at the cell periphery. Lenticytes small. One mature egg at a time. Sperm funnel small, ca. 87 μm long and 50 μm wide; collar distinct, narrow than funnel body, ca. 12.5 μm long and 25 μm wide. The head of spermatozoa ca. 50 μm long.

Spermatheca. One large ectal gland, ectal duct ca. 10 μm wide; ampulla with two roughly globular diverticula; ental ducts connected with oesophage separately.

“ F. globuligera ” in Chen (2009) is consistent with the original description in terms of body size, pharyngeal glands, dorsal vessel, sperm funnel and spermathecae. However, it differs significantly from F. globuligera in: (1) chaetae not more than 4 per bundle (vs. up to 6), (2) bursal slit longitudinal (vs. mainly transverse), (3) four pairs of preclitellar nephridia (vs. 5) and (4) mucocytes with refractile vesicles concentrating at periphery (vs. no refractile vesicles).

“ F. globuligera (-Chen)” has characters in common with Fridericia nanningensis Xie, Liang & Wang, 2001 (chaetae, oesophageal appendages, sperm funnel and spermathecae), and their localities are close to each other. However, “ F. globuligera (-Chen)” should not belong to F. nanningensis because of the nephridia (4 vs. 5 pairs) and a poorly developed seminal vesicle. “ F. globuligera (-Chen)” is probably a new species, but we didn’t check the study material, more detailed information and molecular sequences need to be added, we will leave its recognition for the future.