A New Species of Xironodnlus Ellis 1918 



from North Carolina (Clitellata: 



Branchiobdellida) 



Perry C. Holt 



Department of Biology and Center for Systematics 

 Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and 

 State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 



AND 



Ann M. Weigl 



Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, 

 Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106 



ABSTRACT. — Xironodnlus bashaviae, new species, is described from the 

 crayfish Cambarus bartonii collected at several sites in the upper drainage 

 of the Yadkin River, Forsyth County, North Carolina. It is the only 

 species of the genus known to occur east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

 The new species differs from other members of the genus primarily in 

 details of the reproductive system and dental formula. 



None of the known species of the genus Xironodnlus Ellis 1918 has been 

 adequately described in published work. The discovery of a new species 

 outside the recorded range of the genus (Holt 1969) and the work of one of 

 us (W.) on the ultrastructure of this form affords us a propitious oppor- 

 tunity to present a description of this newly found species. 



The literature pertaining to Xironodnlus is exceedingly sparse. Moore 

 (1894) recognized as Branchiobdella pulcherrima the first species now 

 assigned to the genus. Ellis (1919) formally erected the genus and more 

 fully described a species, X. formosus, which had been proposed in an 

 earlier paper (Ellis 1918). The effective date for both the erection of the 

 genus and the naming of its type-species (X. formosus) must derive from 

 this earlier work. There are other incidental references and some incom- 

 plete, but valid, species designations in the literature which will be cited 

 below, but the only detailed treatment of the genus is contained in Holt's 

 (1951) unpublished dissertation. 



Our methods are those long used by Holt (1960 et seq.). Serial sections 

 were prepared by Weigl using material fixed in 70% ethanol and stained 

 with Harris' hematoxylin and eosin. The drawings (by H.) were done with 

 the aid of a camera lucida; all structures are illustrated with their anterior 



Brimleyana No. 1: 23-29.March 1979. 23 



