Dichogaster saliens (Beddard, 1893)

Kharkongor, Ilona J., 2018, Taxonomic and ecological studies on the earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) of West Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 118 (1), pp. 56-56 : 56-

24. Dichogaster saliens (Beddard, 1893)

1893. Microdrilus saliens Beddard, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1892: 683 .

1900. Dichogaster saliens : Eisen, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. (ser. 3), 2: 226.

Material examined: 14 ex. Regn. No. IV /ANN/NERC-36. India, Meghalaya, WKH District, banks of Riangdo river, Mawshynrut village , N25 o 40’41.8”; E91 o 03’15.8”; Alt. 913m, 22.vi.2010, coll. I.J.Kharkongor and party .

Diagnosis: Length 17-70 mm. Segments 65-122. Prolobic. Lumbricine. Dorsal pores from 4/5 or 5/6, occasionally from 3/4 or 6/7. Spermathecal pores minute, paired, in 7/8 and 8/9. Clitellum 13-19 or 13 to half of 20, annular, but thinner mid-ventrally. Female pores paired in 14. Male pores at posterior ends of grooves, in 17.

Septa 5/6/7/8 missing. Gizzard two pairs in 7 and 8, displaced posteriorly. Ovaries in 13. Testis paired in 10 and 11. Seminal vesicles lacking, or very small in 11 and 12, or only in 12.

Distribution: INDIA: Meghalaya (EKHD, WGHD, WKHD), Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Christmas Island, Congo, El Salvador, Java, Malay Peninsula, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Sri Lanka, USA, Uganda and Zaire.

Remarks: This is an epi-endogeic species generally encountered in agro-ecosystems. Populations of this species thrive well in soils enriched with organic substrates. Recorded, herein, for the first time from WKHD.