Lavellea, Csuzdi & Tondoh, 2007

Csuzdi, Csaba & Tondoh, Jerôme Ebagnerin, 2007, New and little-known earthworm species from the Ivory Coast (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae: Benhamiinae and Eudrilidae), Journal of Natural History 41 (41 - 44), pp. 2551-2567 : 2563

Subfamily PAREUDRILINAE Beddard, 1894

Lavellea gen. nov.

Scolecillus Omodeo 1958, p 89 (part). Chuniodrilus: Wasawo and Omodeo 1963, p 217 (part). Stuhlmannia: Sims 1987, p 380 (part).

Derivatio nominis

The new genus is named in honour of the renowned earthworm ecologist and pioneer of the Ivorian earthworm study Dr Patrick Lavelle, Paris.

Diagnosis

Pareudrilinae with single ventral-median male pore close to 17/18. Spermathecal pore single ventral-median in or around segment 13. Female pores paired in 14 close to 14/15. Oesophageal gizzard absent, two or more intestinal gizzards present. Oesophagus with lamellar widening in or around 14–16. Dorsal blood vessel simple throughout. Holoic, nephridial bladders present. Spermathecal receptaculum single ventral-median. Simple penial setae present.

Type species. Scolecillus compositus Omodeo, 1958 .

Other species. Chuniodrilus vuattouxi Wasawo and Omodeo, 1963 .

Remarks

Scolecillus compositus was described by Omodeo (1958) as a second species besides the generotype Scolecillus tantillus Omodeo, 1958 . However, S. compositus differs from S. tantillus in several characters of great taxonomic importance such as the presence of penial setae and the paired nature of the oviductal system. This led Wasawo and Omodeo (1963) to place this species together with the newly described C. vuattouxi in the genus Chuniodrilus Michaelsen, 1913 . But these species differ again from the Liberian generotype C. schomburgki Michaelsen, 1913 by lacking an oesophageal gizzard, therefore Sims (1987) transferred compositus to Libyodrilus and vuattouxi to Stuhlmannia (but in this case with a question mark).

Recently, Clausen (2004) reviewed the genus Libyodrilus and proved that S. compositus differs substantially from the members of this genus. Therefore she rejected this placement without suggesting a proper place for this species. As S. compositus and C. vuattouxi (both from the Ivory Coast) do not fit any existing Pareudrilinae genus, Lavellea gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate them.

The new genus differs from Scolecillus in having penial setae and from Chuniodrilus in the lack of oesophageal gizzards.