taxonID	type	description	language	source
03C2DC12843F135E9CB3F9AEFAB15D54.taxon	type_taxon	Type species. Octolasium ligrum Bouché, 1969 by original desigbation.	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843F135E9CB3F9AEFAB15D54.taxon	etymology	Etymology. This genus is named after Marcel Avel, a zoologist who researched earthworms in the first half of the XXth century.	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843F135E9CB3F9AEFAB15D54.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Small-sized (3 – 9 cm and 0.15 – 1.15 g) Lumbricini with less than 150 segments and absence of pigmentation. Prostomium epilobous. Setae closely paired. First dorsal pore in 3 / 4, 4 / 5 or 8 / 9. Male pores in 1 / 2 15 with well-developed porophores. Spermathecal pores in 9 / 10, 10 / 11, simple or double. Nephridial pores aligned or irregular. Clitellum starts in 26 – 29 and ends in 34 – 36. Tubercula pubertatis between 30 – 32 and 33 – 35 (36). Lateral hearts in 6 – 11. Calciferous glands in 10 – 14 with diverticula or dilation in 10. Crop in 15 – 16. Gizzard in 17 – 18. Strongly developed glandular papillae in different segments. Typhlosole bifid to pinnate. Spermathecae simple or double in 10, 11, globular and intracoelomic. Two pairs of seminal vesicles in 11 and 12. Nephridial vesicles digitoid or J-shaped. Differential diagnosis. Avelona shares with Gatesona a similar position of the clitellum, tubercula pubertatis and dorsal pores, and numerous genital papillae or chaetophores; however, they can be easily distinguished by their smaller size (30 – 90 mm vs 66 – 190 mm) and weight (0.15 – 1.15 g vs 1 – 3.5 g), the different type of nephridial vesicles (digitoid / J-shaped vs sigmoid or absent) and the number of seminal vesicles (two vs three or four).	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843F135E9CB3F9AEFAB15D54.taxon	discussion	Distribution. Avelona genus is only present in mainland France, between the 45 th – 48 th parallel north (Fig. 2).	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843E135A9CB3FE2DFD835DC4.taxon	description	urn: lsid: zoobank. org: act: 76 ABC 2 DB-AFF 8 - 4 F 25 - 93 DB- 556 B 09 AC 3 CF 1	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843E135A9CB3FE2DFD835DC4.taxon	materials_examined	Type material. Holotype. France Adult; Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Jura, Courbouzon; latitude / longitude: 46.660 / 5.527; elevation: 259 m asl; 11 - April- 2023; S. Gérard, J. Goussopoulos leg.; Sample ID: SG- 0087; deposited at MNHN. Paratypes. France 14 adult specimens, 5 subadult specimens; same data as holotype (19 specimens); Sample ID: SG- 0089, SG- 0090, SG- 0091, SG- 0092, SG- 0093, SG- 0094, SG- 0095, SG- 0096, SG- 0097, SG- 0098, SG- 0099 ¸ SG- 0100 ¸ SG- 0101, SG- 0102, SG- 0103, SG- 0104, SG- 0105, SG- 0106, SG- 0107; deposited at Eco & Sols.	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843E135A9CB3FE2DFD835DC4.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The species is dedicated to Yves Gérard, the father of the first author of this work. Y. Gérard has always worked as a volunteer in highlighting and protecting biodiversity in Northeastern France through various nonprofit organizations (SHNM: Société d’Histoire naturelle de la Moselle and CPEPESC: Commission de protection des eaux, du patrimoine, de l’environnement, du sous-sol et des chiroptères). He battled against Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and we want to pay tribute to him with the description of this species.	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843E135A9CB3FE2DFD835DC4.taxon	description	Description. External morphology (Fig. 3). Pigmentation absent, except for a few faint mid-segment pigmentary dots in the first segments. Beige with a whitish clitellum after ethanol fixation (Fig. 3 A). Average length: 3.73 cm (3 – 4.4 cm, holotype: 4.3 cm). Average weight: 0.19 g (0.15 – 0.25 g, holotype: 0.22 g). Average number of segments: 136 (131 – 140, holotype: 135). Setae closely paired, postclitellar setal formula aa: ab: bc: cd: dd = 9: 1: 5: 1: 20. On fixed specimens, the tail ends abruptly, as if it was cut (Fig. 3 B). Prostomium epilobous, open. Longitudinal furrows in the first two segments. First dorsal pore in intersegment 3 / 4 (4 / 5). Nephridial pores aligned in area B (i. e., between setae b and c), at 1 / 2 ab from b. Spermathecal pores at intersegmental furrows 9 / 10 – 10 / 11 in c. Male pores in 15, surrounded by a strongly developed porophore extending over 14 and 16. Female pores in 14. Genital papillae in 9, 12, 13, 17 (strongly developed and consistent), (23, 26, 29) 30 (35, 36), in ab. Clitellum saddle-shaped in 28 – 35. Tubercula pubertatis in 32 - 1 / n 35. Internal anatomy. Septa 5 / 6 – 9 / 10 thickened. Lateral hearts in 6 – 11. Calciferous glands in 10 – 14, dilated in 10. Crop in 15 – 16, gizzard in 17 – 18. Typhlosole starts pinnate and becomes bifid around 24. Male sexual system holandric, testes and funnels (not enclosed in testes sacs, but with sperm present) located ventrally in 10 and 11. Two pairs of reniform seminal vesicles in 11 and 12. Ovaries and female funnels in 13, ovarian receptacles (ovisacs) in 14. Two pairs of small globular spermathecae in 10 and 11 (intersegments 9 / 10, 10 / 11), simple. Nephridial bladders J-shaped (Fig. 5).	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843E135A9CB3FE2DFD835DC4.taxon	diagnosis	Differential diagnosis. Avelona yvesi sp. nov. can be distinguished from the most similar species Avelona zicsii (Bouché, 1972) comb. nov. by the position of the clitellum (28 – 35 vs. 26 – 34 (1 / 3 - 35 )) and tubercula pubertatis (32 - 1 / n 35 vs. 30 - 1 / 2 33) (Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. S 1, Table 1). COI uncorrected average pairwise distances and topology of multilocus molecular phylogenetic trees supports the status of Av. yvesi sp. nov. as independent from other morphologically related species.	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
03C2DC12843E135A9CB3FE2DFD835DC4.taxon	distribution	Distribution and ecology. Avelona yvesi sp. nov. was found in the vicinities of the Jura Massif (near Lons-le-Saunier) (Fig. 2) in a pasture (Fig. 3 G).	en	Gérard, Sylvain, Navarro, Alejandro Martínez, Decaëns, Thibaud, Hedde, Mickaël, Marchán, Daniel Fernández (2025): Not the brightest earthworm in the genus: two non-bioluminescent Avelona (Lumbricidae, Crassiclitellata) with description of a new species. Zootaxa 5589 (1): 270-281, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.23
