Abstract

The area comprising the Pyrenees, Northeast Spain, Southern France and Corsica-Sardinia supports a large part of the diversity of Lumbricidae earthworms, including most species of the endemic genera Prosellodrilus, Cataladrilus and Scherotheca. In this region, the probability of encountering new species for science is significant, especially in scarcely sampled localities. In this study, we describe two unidentified species recently collected in the Hyères Archipelago (France), which we assigned to the genera Cataladrilus and Scherotheca based on morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Other species of Scherotheca from Montpellier (including the type species of the genus, Sc. gigas gigas) were included in the analysis to clarify their conflicting systematics. A reduced molecular marker set (COI, 16S, 28S and ND1) proved as successful as larger marker sets for identifying phylogenetic relationships within the Lumbricidae. Remarkable disjunctions between both Cataladrilus porquerollensis Marchán & Decäens sp. nov., Scherotheca portcrosana Marchán & Decäens sp. nov. and their most closely related relatives, suggesting a strong influence of paleogeographic events on the earthworm fauna of the area and a possible role of near-shore islands as refugia for relict taxa. Genetic distances and branch lengths supported the elevation of some subspecies of Scherotheca to specific status as well as the retention of other subspecies, highlighting the importance of testing for such delimitation with molecular methods.

Highlights

  • In the Palearctic, Lumbricidae Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1815 is the most diverse and widely distributed native earthworm family, including 44 genera and around 670 species (Blakemore 2008)

  • Cataladrilus porquerollensis Marchán & Decäens sp. nov. was recovered as a sister species to Ca. monticola Qiu & Bouché, 1998

  • Molecular phylogenetic analyses and genetic distances clearly support the morphology-based inclusion of Ca. porquerollensis Marchán & Decäens sp. nov. within the genus Cataladrilus

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Summary

Introduction

In the Palearctic, Lumbricidae Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1815 is the most diverse and widely distributed native earthworm family, including 44 genera and around 670 species (Blakemore 2008) (but around 45 species have been described since ). The genus Prosellodrilus comprises around 32 species and subspecies (Blakemore 2012) This genus is subdivided into a conflictive subgenus system, proposed by Qiu & Bouché (1998a) and Baha & Berra (2001): Prosellodrilus, Pyrenodrilus Qiu & Bouché, 1998, Kenleenus Qiu & Bouché, 1998 and Maghrebiella Baha & Berra, 2001. Cataladrilus comprises eight species distributed in the Eastern Pyrenees (Catalonia, Andorra and Pyrénées-Orientales) and two species of the subgenus Latisinella Qiu & Bouché, 1998 found in Soria (Spain) more than 200 km away from the main range of the genus (Qiu & Bouché 1998b). A morphological distinction between them is rather clear, with Cataladrilus possessing anterior spermathecae (intersegments 9/10, 10/11) and Prosellodrilus possessing posterior spermathecae (between intersegments 12/13 and 14/15)

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