A new sexannulate species of Orobdella (Hirudinida, Arhynchobdellida, Orobdellidae) from Yakushima Island, Japan

Takafumi Nakano

doi:10.3897/zookeys.181.2932

Abstract

A new sexannulate species of the genus Orobdella Oka, 1895, Orobdella mononoke sp. n., is described on the basis of five specimens collected from Yakushima Island, Japan. Orobdella mononoke sp. n. differs from other sexannulate Orobdella species in its possessing the following combination of characters: dorsal surface bicolor in life, I–XIII, XXVII and caudal sucker grayish purple, XIV–XXVI amber, male gonopore at XI c11/c12, female gonopore at XIII b2, 8 + 1/2 between gonopores, tubular but bulbous at junction with crop gastroporal duct, epididymides in XV–XIX, and atrial cornua ovate. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear 18S rDNA and histone H3, and mitochondrial COI, tRNACys, tRNAMet, 12S rDNA, tRNAVal and 16S rDNA markers show that Orobdella mononoke sp. n. is closely related to Orobdella esulcata Nakano, 2010 from Kyushu, Japan, and two species, Orobdella dolichopharynx Nakano, 2011 and Orobdella shimadae Nakano, 2011, from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan.

Highlights

The genus Orobdella Oka, 1895 consists of nine terrestrial gastroporous leeches described from Japan (Nakano 2010, 2011a,b, 2012; Oka 1895; Richardson 1975)
(Oceguera-Figueroa et al 2011; Richardson 1971, 1975; Sawyer 1986), but a recent molecular phylogenetic study indicated that this genus belongs to the monotypic family Orobdellidae under Erpobdelliformes (Nakano et al 2012)
Sexannulate Orobdella specimens were collected from Yakushima Island

Summary

Introduction

The genus Orobdella Oka, 1895 consists of nine terrestrial gastroporous leeches described from Japan (Nakano 2010, 2011a,b, 2012; Oka 1895; Richardson 1975).The genus Orobdella was formerly a member of the family GastrostomobdellidaeCopyright Takafumi Nakano. Sexannulate Orobdella specimens were collected from Yakushima Island. Orobdella leeches from Yakushima Island are described as a new species . Leeches were collected from Yakushima Island, Japan (Fig. 1), under rocks along mountain or forest trails.

Results

Conclusion