Kerriona bocainensis James, Bartz & Brown, 2023

James, Samuel W., Bartz, Marie L. C. & Brown, George G., 2023, New Ocnerodrilidae genera, species and records from Brazil (Annelida: Crassiclitellata), Zootaxa 5255 (1), pp. 235-269 : 249

Kerriona bocainensis James, Bartz & Brown , sp. nov. ( Fig. 9 a-c)

Holotype. BRSP0920 , late juvenile, Serra da Bocaina National Park , S„o José do Barreiro, S„o Paulo state, Brazil, S22.74° W44.617°, 1504 m asl., in bromeliad leaf axils; 10 February 2009, S.W. James & S.K. Davidson, colls.

Paratype. BRSP 0921 , one juvenile, same data as holotype .

Etymology. The species is named after the national park in which it was found.

Description. Dimensions 80 mm by 3.0 mm at segment x, 3.5 mm at xxx, body cylindrical anterior to clitellum, dorso-ventrally flattened oval posterior to clitellum, height 2.5 mm at xxx; segments 177 plus tissue sample fragment (holotype) or 204 in case of 45 mm juvenile. Setae unpaired, separate throughout; setal formula AA:AB:BC:CD: DD = 1.2:1:1.7:1.7:2.1 at xxx. Prostomium epilobous closed; segments without secondary annulations. Dark gray dorsal pigmentation on DD, streaky gray within CD, buff elsewhere. Spermathecal pores in 7/8, 8/9 at B; ovipores paired in xiv midway between 13/14 and equator of xiv slightly medial to B line; male pores deeply invaginated in xviii just lateral to B; prostatic pores at ends of seminal grooves in B in xvii-xix; grooves concave laterally. Setae AB present unmodified in xvii-xix. Clitellum not developed, genital markings paired transverse ovals across seminal grooves in xviii ( Fig. 9a ).

Septa 5/6-8/9 slightly muscular, remainder membranous. Alimentary canal with large pharyngeal gland masses v-vii, pharyngeal muscles to v, lacking gizzard; esophagous valvular in xi, intestinal origin in ½ xii, full size in xiii; no typhlosole. Calciferous glands ovate, very large, paired in ix, densely packed with longitudinal radial lamellae within each of three partitions created by longitudinal walls meeting to form a Y-shape in cross-section ( Fig. 9b ); each gland with blood vessel from anterior end to extra-esophageal vessel, and blood vessel from posterior face of gland to supra-esophageal vessel. Holonephric, tubular nephridia in iv- xix, from xx posteriorly nephridia are large closely folded slender flat ribbons of dense white material of glandular appearance, occupying body cavity from A to mid-dorsal. These could be enlarged, mantled bladders.

Vascular system with ventral trunk, dorsal vessel single, lateral vessels in vi-ix, lateral-esophageal hearts in x-xi.

Ovaries, funnels free in xiii; paired spermathecae in viii, ix, clavate, bent nearly double, sperm chambers may be in duct walls ( Fig. 9c ).

Male sexual system proandric, testes and funnels in x free, vas deferens superficial and meets small dome of glandular tissue in xviii; seminal vesicles only in xi large, post-septal, extending into xii; slender tubular prostates folded under intestine within xvi-xxiv; prostatic ducts muscular near body wall in xvii, xix.

Remarks. Kerriona bocainensis sp. nov. lacks the doubled dorsal vessel and the small turrets associated with the prostatic pore openings, as are found in many other Kerriona , but in this respect it is like K. luederwaldti . Kerriona limae also lives in bromeliads but is unpigmented, has a doubled dorsal vessel and turrets at the prostatic pores. Kerriona garbei is large (365 mm), the male field and prostates show partial microscolecine reduction of the posterior pores and glands, has a typhlosole, calciferous glands composed of>2000 small parallel tubules, and has only one pair of spermathecae. The new species is close to K. luederwaldti as both have dark gray pigmentation and both inhabit bromeliad leaf axils. K. bocainensis sp. nov. has spermathecal pores in A rather than in B (the latter character state is that of K. luederwaldti in all comparisons to follow), intestinal origin in xii vs. xiii, vas deferens muscular vs. weakly muscular; pharyngeal glands and musculature more developed vs. less; calciferous glands divided into three main sections vs. two; lacking transverse muscle bands in clitellar segments vs. having them. The DNA barcode p -distance calculated between the two taxa is approximately 13%. In general we have been using a 14% cutoff for the delimitation of earthworm species, even though that is a very simplistic and conservative approach. ASAP ( Puillandre et al. 2020) separated these two species as different molecular units (MOTUs) in the second best ASAP score (4.0 vs. 3.0; threshold distance ~10% vs. 13%; 25 vs. 23 MOTUs respectively). DNA barcodes of K. bocainensis sp. nov. are: NCBI numbers HQ562688, HQ562689, HQ562690. A closely related population was found at the Estaç„o Ecológica de Bananal, in S„o Paulo: HQ562645, with barcode. It is a separate MOTU from K. bocainensis sp. nov. and K. luederwaldti . The Bocaina and Bananal localities are about 25-30 kilometers apart, and Itatiaia is more distant and separated by the wide Rio Paraíba do Sul valley.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Kerriona bocainensis sp. nov. A. Ventral view of male field (mf), scale bar 1 mm; B. Cross section of calciferous gland (cg); C. Spermatheca of ix (sp).