A new species of the Drawida ghilarovi species complex (Oligochaeta, Moniligastridae) in Changbai Mountain, Northeast China

By

Liu, Min
Li, Jiangni
Zhang, Yufeng
Aspe, Nonillon M.
Wu, Donghui
Zhao, Huifeng
Zheng, Guo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-3-21

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

101

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

627--641

Subjects

DNA barcoding , earthworm , Far East , Moniligastridae , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.146587

 

Abstract

The earthworm genus Drawida Michaelsen, 1900, has remained taxonomically and biogeographically unclear in China, with only one species described, D. ganini Zhang & Wu, 2021, which belongs to the D. ghilarovi Gates, 1969 species complex. Here, a new species, D. yanbianensis Liu & Zhao, sp. nov., is described from Northeast China based on both morphological characters and molecular data. The new species is characterized by having a single pair of female pore slits on segment XII, a clitellum spanning five segments (X−XIV), a short body length (45.8–78 mm), having large and oval-shaped spermathecal ampulla with long coiled ducts, and having ovisacs from the ovary chamber on XI extending to XV. The new species status is supported with molecular data using the mitochondrial COI gene and four nuclear genes. The phylogenetic analysis shows that the new species is clustered with D. ghilarovi with a COIK2P genetic distance from the other species ranging from 12.4% to 20.9%. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolution and distribution of the D. ghilarovi species complex and expands the known diversity within the genus Drawida.