Amynthas heaneyi, James, 2004

James, Samuel W., 2004, New Species Of Amynthas, Pheretima And Pleionogaster (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) Of The Mt. Kitanglad Range, Mindanao Island, Philippines, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52 (2), pp. 289-313 : 306-307

Amynthas heaneyi , new species

( Figs. 4A, B )

Material examined. – Holotype - adult ( NMA 003988 ), Philippines, Mindanao Island, Bukidnon Province, Mt. Kitanglad Range , 8 9.5' N, 124 51' E, 2250 m. elevation, Camp II, coll. D. Balete, no date.

Paratypes – 1 adult, 2 juveniles ( FMNH 011067 ), Philippines, Mindanao Island, Bukidnon Province, Mt. Kitanglad Range , 8 9.5' N, 124 51' E, 2250 m. elevation, Camp II, coll. D. Balete, no date ; 1 adult, 1 juvenile ( NMA 003989 ), Philippines, Mindanao Island, Bukidnon Province, Mt. Kitanglad Range , 8 9.5' N, 124 51' E, 2250 m. elevation, Camp II, coll. D. Balete, no date .

Others – 1 adult, 1 juvenile ( KUNHM 002146 ), Philippines, Mindanao Island, Bukidnon Province, Mt. Kitanglad Range 8 10.5' N, 124 51’E, 1900 m. elevation, Camp I, coll. D. Balete, no date .

Etymology. – The species is named after Lawrence Heaney.

Description. – Dark gray to black pigment on inner surface of body wall, giving dusky appearance externally, body 84- 111 x 4.6-5.7 mm (vii), 4.6-5.8 (x), 4.5-5.2 mm (xxv) measurements from complete adults; 98, 113, 123, 132 segments; body cylindrical in cross-section. First dorsal pore 12/13, once 13/14; spermathecal pores paired in 7/8, 0.11 circumference apart, female pore single in xiv, male pores paired in xviii, 0.14-0.16 circumference apart in 4 th to 6 th setal lines, 2-6 setae between male pores, male pores within distinct but shallow indentations. Setae regularly distributed around segmental equators; 42-52 setae on vii, 48-56 setae on xx; in vii ZZ: YZ = 2.0, in xx ZZ: YZ = 2.0-4.0, no ventral gaps. Clitellum annular xiv-xvi; genital markings paired, medial to spermathecal pore level in vii, paired presetal (5), some with one midventral in each of viii, ix (2); paired presetal medial to male pore level 16/17, paired postsetal, in line with male pores xvii, paired on 17/18, medial to male pores, three small genital markings around each male pore in xviii, paired medial to male pores 19/20, 20/21 ( Fig. 4A ).

Septa 5/6-7/8, 10/11-14/15 muscular, 8/9, 9/10 absent. Tufted nephridia on anterior faces of 5/6, 6/7; nephridia of intestinal segments pre- and post-septal at body wall-septum junctions.

Large gizzard in viii-x, esophagus with vertical lamellae xxiii, intestinal origin xvi, simple caeca originating in xxvii, extending forward to xxv, xxiv, ventral margin of each caecum incised; typhlosole xxvii-lxx, lxxv simple fold one third lumen diameter. Intestinal wall with 26 longitudinal blood vessels beginning in xxvii.

Hearts xi-xiii esophageal, commissural vessels v-vii, x lateral, only one of two commissural vessels in x fully developed, sometimes left, sometimes right, the other much smaller; one pair of vessels in space of viii, ix, this to gizzard. Supraesophageal vessel x-xiv, extra-esophageal vessel joins esophagus wall at 10/11.

Ovaries and funnels free in xiii, spermathecae paired in viii without nephridia on ducts; each spermatheca with rounded ampulla, short muscular duct, diverticulum elongate at end of muscular stalk of same length as spermathecal duct, stalks sometimes penetrating 7/8 to place diverticulum in vii ( Fig. 4B ). Male sexual system proandric, testes and funnels enclosed in broad midventral sac in x; seminal vesicles xi acinous; vasa deferentia free from body wall en route to ental end of prostatic ducts; each prostate a single racemose mass, occupying xvii-xix or xvi-xviii; stout muscular duct widens three-fold towards body wall, then narrows slightly just before body wall. Stalked genital marking glands present for each genital marking; in largest specimen glands large, dense, acinous, stalks very short.

Remarks. – Amynthas heaneyi keys to the zebrus speciesgroup in Sims & Easton (1972). This group is composed of A. culminus ( Michaelsen, 1899) , A. hilgendorfi (part) ( Michaelsen, 1892), A. principalus ( Michaelsen, 1932), A. palmosus ( Chen, 1946) , A. zebrus ( Benham, 1896) , A. zuongmontis (Thai & Samphon, 1990) , A. magnipapillatus (Qiu & Wang, 1992) , A. eleganis (Qiu & Wang, 1992) , and A. fasciculus (Qiu, Wang & Wang, 1993) . Mainland Asian species are A. palmosus , A. fasciculus , A. magnipapillata , A. eleganis ( China) , and A. zuongmontis ( Vietnam) . The peregrine A. hilgendorfi is probably from Japan, and the other species are from Indonesia, primarily Sulawesi. Even on a cursory inspection this species group is polyphyletic, as suggested by Sims & Easton (1972). Lee (1981) also commented that the species groups in Sims & Easton (1972) and Easton (1979) were unsatisfactory. The group contains members with simple and manicate caeca, with and without genital marking glands, and with and without secondary male openings leading to a small pocket containing the actual male pores. Blakemore (in litt.) has interpreted these pockets as intramural copulatory pouches in the sense of Metaphire and has transferred A. hilgendorfi to Metaphire . That decision should be evaluated with an independent data set, because it is possible that the small pockets of certain Amynthas could have evolved independently of the intramural pouches of Metaphire . Other than being members of Amynthas as currently defined, the zebrus group and the newly described species presented here are united only by the position of the spermathecae. In the case of A. hilgendorfi , with manicate caeca, the majority of specimens are parthenogenetically degraded morphs with variable numbers of spermathecae or lacking them entirely ( Gates, 1972). Amynthas palmosus also has manicate caecae, different pigmentation, greatly fewer setae per segment, sessile genital marking glands and differently shaped spermathecae placed at about mid-lateral ( Chen, 1946). The Chinese species A. eleganis and A. magnipapillatus have manicate caecae, male pores on very large papillae, are holandric, and the spermathecal pores are about 0.4 circumference apart. Amynthas fasciculus is much larger than A. heaneyi , holandric, and has very few genital markings, each with small, densely packed glands. The remaining species include two from Sulawesi ( zebrus , culminus ) and one from Bali (principalus), which are large (200-400 mm) and have striped pigmentation much like many Pheretima : dark between segmental equators, and an unpigmented equatorial stripe broadening ventrally until there is no pigment below mid-lateral, more or less. They also have secondary male openings as discussed above ( Michaelsen, 1932). Thus A. heaneyi is easily distinguished from the other members of the genus with spermathecae in viii only, and it is proandric, rather than holandric like the rest of the species group.

There are other proandric Amynthas from the Philippines ( Hong and James 2004) and Taiwan ( Gates, 1959; James et al. 2004) but these have very different characteristics. The Philippine species have small hoods over the male pores and very few genital markings, while the prostatic ducts of Taiwan species form by the union of numerous ductlets in a fan-like array.

Figures

Fig.4. Spermathecae, and ventral views showing spermathecal pores, female pores, and male pores of Amynthas heaneyi (A,B), Pleionogaster valida (C, D), and Pleionogaster kitangladensis (E, F). Symbols: fp, female pore(s); mp, male pores; sp, spermathecal pores.