Syngenodrilus Smith & Green 1919

Jamieson, Barrie G. M. & Fragoso, Carlos, 2024, A monograph of the Oligochaete family Alluroididae, Zootaxa 5529 (3), pp. 401-435 : 432

Genus Syngenodrilus Smith & Green 1919

Type species: Syngenodrilus lamuensis Smith & Green 1919

Slightly modified from Jamieson (1968).

Lateral lines unknown. Genital and penial setae absent; the dorsal median intersetal distance=0.6 of the circumference of the body (dd=0.6 U). Clitellum commencing in XI; intraclitellar tubercula pubertatis present. Male pores one pair lateral and anterior in XIII. Prostate pores separate from the male pores on XI, XII and XIII. Female pores in the setal arc of XIV. Spermathecal pores two pairs, posterior in VII and VIII. Two gizzards present, one in each of VIII and IX. Nephridia with pyriform terminal bladders. Holandric, testes in X and XI enclosed in testis– sacs. Sperm funnels with their mouths directed ventrally. Seminal vesicles of the microdrile type, i.e. extending posteriad within the ovisacs through several segments. Sperm ducts simple, prostate glands entirely separate .

Distribution. Kenya; Martinique?.

Remarks: An aquatic worm found in Martinique by Chagné and Giani (1998) was identified as Syngenodrilinae gen. sp. However, the identification was made based on thickness of the clitellum (a single layer of cells) and its extent (XIII–XIX), dorsal location of the setae, presence of septal glands in V, VI, VII and VIII, holandry (testes and male funnels), a pair of ovaries in XIII and presence of lateral spermathecae in IX. Key characters such as position of male pores, number of gizzards, prostatic glands and penial and genital setae were not mentioned. Accordingly, this worm cannot be assigned with certainty to this subfamily. With the available information it might be considered more related to the alluroidid Mexican genus Lacandodrilus (but see Remarks to the Martinique species below).