Polypheretima elongata ( Perrier, 1872 )

Chang, Chih-Han, Snyder, Bruce A. & Szlavecz, Katalin, 2016, Asian pheretimoid earthworms in North America north of Mexico: An illustrated key to the genera Amynthas, Metaphire, Pithemera, and Polypheretima (Clitellata: Megascolecidae), Zootaxa 4179 (3), pp. 495-529 : 522

16. Polypheretima elongata ( Perrier, 1872)

( Figures 1 L, 22)

Perichaeta elongata Perrier, 1872: 124 .

Pheretima elongata — Gates 1958: 31; 1982: 45.

Metapheretima elongata — Reynolds & Wetzel 2004: 88; 2008: 181. Polypheretima elongata — Easton 1979: 53.

Data sources. Gates (1937, 1972, 1982); Chang et al. (2009a).

Diagnosis. Size 75–355 mm by 3–6 mm. Segment numbers 136–297. Color of live specimens light grey to red with pink to red anterior. Male pores paired in XVIII, on small disc. Post-clitellar genital markings widely paired on some or all of XIX–XXIV, sometimes becoming unilateral posteriorly, pre-setal, median to male pores. Spermathecal pores present or absent; when present, in some or all of 5/6/7, paired groups of 2–5. Pre-clitellar genital markings absent. Female pore single in XIV. First dorsal pore 12/13. Spermathecae present or absent; when present, polythecal, in some or all of VI–VII, with a duct shorter than ampulla, diverticulum present, genital marking glands sessile. Prostate glands XVI–XXI. Intestinal caeca absent.

Remarks. The only record of Polypheretima elongata in the continental US was in a PhD thesis in 1969 from Louisiana ( Gates 1958; 1982). Whether this species actually occurs in the US is questionable. Polypheretima elongata was listed in the checklists by Gates (1982) and by Reynolds & Wetzel (2008). However, it was not reported in the Louisiana earthworm study by Reynolds (2008), and was not listed in the checklists by Reynolds & Wetzel (2004) and by Reynolds (2011), either. Both amphimictic and parthenogenetic reproduction has been reported in Polypheretima elongata .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Color photographs of live individuals of (A) Amynthas agrestis, (B) Amynthas corticis, (C) Amynthas gracilis, (D) Amynthas hupeiensis, (E) Amynthas minimus, (F) Amynthas morrisi, (G) Amynthas tokioensis, (H) Metaphire californica, (I) Metaphire hilgendorfi, (J) Metaphire posthuma, (K) Pithemera bicincta, and (L) Polypheretima elongata, showing interspecific variations in colorations and body shapes. Specimens are from US (A, B, D, G, I) and Taiwan (C, E, F, H, J, K, L). Photo credit: Chih-Han Chang (A, B, D, E, G, H, I) and Wen-Jay Chih (C, F, J, K, L). The photographs of A. minimus and M. californica have been previously presented in Chang et al. (2009 a).