Chilota purcelli purcelli ( Beddard, 1897 )

Plisko, Jadwiga Danuta, 2012, An annotated checklist of the South African Acanthodrilidae (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae: Acanthodrilinae, Benhamiinae), Zootaxa 3458, pp. 4-58 : 13-14

Chilota purcelli purcelli ( Beddard, 1897)

Acanthodrilus purcelli Beddard, 1897: 337 .

Chilota purcelli: Michaelsen 1900: 147, 1913a: 521 , 1913b: 55. Chilota montanus: Michaelsen 1905: 40 .

Chilota purcelli purcelli: Pickford 1937: 477 –490.

Chilota purcelli purcelli: Zicsi 1998: 70 ; BMNH.

Chilota purcelli purcelli trans. ad. montanus: Pickford 1937: 484 –488. Chilota purcelli purcelli trans. ad. longinquus: Pickford 1937: 492. Chilota purcelli purcelli trans. ad. priesti + longinquus: Pickford 1937: 490.

Type locality. WC, Cape Peninsula: ‘the Newlands slope’ ( Beddard 1897: 337) is a broad description of the locality, and it is difficult establish where from type material was collected. The label ‘near reservoir at Wynberg in the valley’ (partly damaged in jar with ‘ type specimens’) possibly refers to area near reservoir at the top of Table Mtn, near Disa Gorge, where Pickford (1937: 478) collected new material. Data may refer also to southern suburb of Cape Town, located between Claremont and Constantia.

Distribution. This subspecies is noted from over 90 localities in a variety of biotopes, at sea level and at various altitudes in mountain areas. Majority recorded from the Western Cape. Few samples collected in distant area of coastal-belt in the Eastern Cape are possibly misidentified, belonging to Ch. purcelli longinquus occurring also in the same collection site. Abbreviated records listed by Pickford (1937). WC: Cape Peninsula: ‘Newlands’ (with no more data) from four localites. Table Mtn and its foothills: Wynberg, by stream flowing into Disa Gorge; First Waterfall Ravine; Devil's Peak at various altitudes (ca. 550-750 m asl) (five sites); Blinkwater Ravine at ca. 450 m asl near the waterfall pockets of fairly damp soil; Platteklip Gorge, waterfall, above intersection, and at foot of clif (three sites). Kirstenbosch area: Aloe Knoll beyond Window Gorge (two sites); Window Gorge, rotting log, at ca. 400 m asl and near foot, by stream (two sites); Skeleton Gorge, variable biotopes (three sites); Nursery stream; Diamond stream above the waterfall, grass-roots, leaf mould, and ‘Hex cliff’ moss of waterfall (two sites); below Chestnut Avenue poplar copse (three sites). Echo Valey. Paradise Estate, oakwoods below Lady Anne Barnard's ruined house. Constantia Nek, by the stream on Hout Bay side, under vegetation burnt down by fire. Palmiet river, Orange Kloof near waterfall, grass roots, moss and under Marchantia . Oudekraal near Camps Bay, bank of the stream. Constantia Mts: bog in the valley above waterfall; Prince Kasteel river, hillside leading up to the peak; near top at ca. 930 m asl. Orange Kloof near waterfall. About 1.5 km from Hout Bay along the Chapman's Peak road: near the biggest ‘kloof’ at Constantia Berg; beyond the Forest Reserve; beside the waterfall with little pockets of Hemanthus bulbs. Chapman's Peak, by the stream in steep ravine. Noordhoek, wooded ‘kloofs’. Silvermine Valley, about half way between Lakeside and Fishoek at bank of the stream (ground burnt, with recovering vegetation). St. James, mountain dell. St. James area. Franshoek Hoek Mts overlooking Banhoek. North-east of Cape Peninsula: Du Toits Kloof, Wellington area: hillside above the stream, sphagnum moss; stream bank under the liverworst; side ‘kloof’, Melkwaterval; lower slope of the hillside south of the stream, boggy ground; hillside west of Du Toits Kloof, by the stream in slight ‘kloof’ (veld burnt all round). Bains Kloof area: Witte River valley, waterfall at foot of Observation Peak, marshy area; at roots of Juncus under remains of snow. Ceres: the mountains on the north-west side of Mitchel's pass; near the railway crossing, moss and damp earth in rock crannies; at the roots of ferns and among decaying leaves in the bank of the stream (the worms tended to crawl out to the surface during digging, but in the drier places they were called up aestivating); Ceres, tributary of the Dwars river on the side of the watershed; spur of the Witzenberg which flanks Mitchell's Pass on its north-west side, sandy soil, grass and sedge roots by the pool in ‘kloof’. Great Winterhoek, Tulbagh, at ca. 1200-1500 m asl. South-east of Cape Peninsula: Stellenbosch area (seven sites): at ca. 300-450 m asl, sandy, very wet area; moss with wet mud at the waterfall; loamy soil and grass; fern roots beside the waterfall; Kloof, waterfall, moss; small ‘kloof’ at ca. 300-450 m asl, moss and sandy, wet soil. Helderberg area (four sites) variable biotopes: moss in the shaded waterfall, rotting log, shade of ferns. Foothills of Helderberg near Somerset West in moss near waterterfall. Raaswater Gorge, at the foothills of Helderberg. Somerset West: numerous sites from various biotopes covered by grass, moss, ferns, sedge, under rotting logs, in loamy, muddy soil; mountain side above Diep Gat Gorge, in Somerset West area at ca. 600 m asl; group of native trees, among stones, dry leaves, and leaf mould; drift across the road leading from Brinksburg Farm to Diep Gat Gorge, bank of the stream. Small tributary of Kogelberg stream above Steenbras Valley, at ca. 490 m asl, bank of the stream among grass roots, peaty sandy soil. Waterfall by the sea, about 4.5 km south of the Steenbras river mouth, soil at the roots of a long grass. Hottentot's Holland Mountains (Caledon side); in vicinity of Sneewkop. Sir Lowry's Pass at ca. 300 m asl, wet rooty soil. EC. Storms River forest and Tsitsikamma National Park (four sites). More detailed collection records may be found in Pickford (1937: 477–520), Michaelsen (1913a: 55–56) and Zicsi (1998: 70).

Remarks. Reference material in BMNH, labelled variably, kept in more than 25 jars containing over 100 tubes with variable numbers of specimens, or mounted on slides, and with variety of notes referring to purcelli and its subspecies written possibly by Pickford or BMNH curators. BMNH 1904.10.5.888 is labelled as 'type' (possibly the holotype), BMNH 1904.10.5.905–907 are labelled as 'paratypes'. Data and identity not confirmed.