Abstract
Amynthas gageodo Blakemore, sp. nov. is described from small Gageo-do Island, offshore to the southwest of the Korean Peninsula in the Yellow Sea. It is an octothecal species (four pairs of spermathecae) comparable to Japanese Amynthas carnosus (Goto & Hatai, 1899) (synonyms: Korean kyamikia Kobayashi, 1934, monstrifera Kobayashi, 1936, sangyeoli Hong & James, 2001, youngtai Hong & James, 2001, kimhaeiensis Hong & James, 2001, sinsiensis Hong & James, 2001, baemsagolensis Hong & James, 2001, Taiwanese monsoonus James et al., 2005) and to Chinese A. pingi (Stephenson, 1925) (synonym: fornicata Gates, 1935). Species associations in its forest litter habitat on the remote island included terrestrial leeches, planarian flatworm predators and other worms. MtDNA COI barcodes indisputably identify types of A. gageodo as a new model for future Korean earthworm species characterizations.
References
Anonymous. (2010) Conservation of the Avian Biodiversity of Gageo Island, Shinan County, South Jeolla Province: a Summary Overview. Birds Korea, Busan, the Republic of Korea. Available from: http://www.birdskorea.org/Habitats/Other/Gageodo/BK-HA-Gageodo-Conservation-Avian-Biodiversity.shtml.
Baird, W. (1896) Description of a new species of earth-worm (Megascolex diffringens) found in North Wales. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 37(1), 40–43.
Blakemore, R.J. (2000) Tasmanian Earthworms. CD-ROM Monograph with Review of World Families. VermEcology, Canberra, 800 pp.
Blakemore, R.J. (2002) Cosmopolitan Earthworms – an Eco-Taxonomic Guide to the Peregrine Species of the World. VermEcology, Canberra, 586 pp.
Blakemore, R.J. (2003a) Japanese earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta): a review and checklist of species. Organisms, Diversity & Evolution, 3(3), 241–244.
Blakemore, R.J. (2003b) Japanese earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta): a review and checklist of species. Organisms, Diversity & Evolution, Electronic Supplement 2003–11, 1–43. Available from http://www.senckenberg.de/odes/ 03-11.htm.
Blakemore, R.J. (2008) Korean earthworm species – updated checklist. In: N. Kaneko & M.T. Ito (Eds.) A Series of Searchable Texts on Earthworm Biodiversity, Ecology and Systematics from Various Regions of the World - Supplemental. COE Soil Ecology Research Group, Yokohama National University, Japan. Available from: http://www.annelida.net/earthworm/.
Blakemore, R.J. (2010a) Unravelling some Kinki worms (Annelida: Oligochaeta: Megadrili: Megascolecidae) Part II. Opuscula Zoologica. 42(2), 191–206.
Blakemore, R.J. (2010b) Cosmopolitan Earthworms – an Eco-Taxonomic Guide to the Peregrine Species of the World. (4th Edn.). VermEcology, Yokohama, 1,200 pp.
Blakemore, R.J. (2012) Amynthas carnosus (Goto & Hatai, 1899) redescribed on its neotype (Oligochaeta : Megadrilacea : Megascolecidae). Journal of Species Research 1(1), 35–43.
Blakemore, R.J. & Kupriyanova, E.K. (2010) Unravelling some Kinki worms (Annelida: Oligochaeta:Megadrili: Moniligastridae) Part I. Opuscula Zoologica, 40, 3–18.
Blakemore, R.J., Kupriyanova, E. & Grygier, M.J. (2010) Neotypification of Drawida hattamimizu Hatai, 1930 (Annelida: Oligochaeta: Megadrili: Moniligastridae) as a model linking mtDNA (COI) sequences to an earthworm type and response to the ‘Can of Worms’ theory of cryptic species. ZooKeys, 41, 1–29.
Chen, Y. (1933) A preliminary survey of the earthworms of the Lower Yangtze Valley. Contributions from the Biological Laboratory of the Science Society of China, Zoological Series, 9(6), 177–296.
Gates, G. E. (1935) New earthworms from China, with notes on the synonymy of some Chinese species of Drawida and Pheretima. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 93(3), 1–19.
Goto, S. & Hatai, S. (1898) New or imperfectly known species of earthworms. No. 1. Annotations Zoologicae Japonensis, 2(3), 65–78.
Goto, S. & Hatai, S. (1899) New or imperfectly known species of earthworms. No. 2. Annotations Zoologicae Japonensis, 3(1), 13–24.
Hong, Y. & James, S.W. (2001) Five new earthworms of the genus Amynthas Kinberg, 1867 (Megascolecidae) with four pairs of spermathecae. Zoolological Studies, 40(4), 269–275.
Hong, Y. & Kim, T.-H. (2002) Four new earthworms of the genus Amynthas (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Korea. Korean Journal of Biological Science, 6(3), 195–199. ICZN (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th edition). International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History Museum, London, 306 pp.
James, S.W., Shih, H.-T. & Chang, H.-W. (2005) Seven new species of Amynthas (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) and new earthworm records from Taiwan. Journal of Natural History, 39(14), 1007–1028.
Kinberg, J.G.H., (1867) Annulata nova. Ofersigt af Kongl. Vetenskaos-Akademiens Förhandlingar, Stockholm, 23(4), 97–103.
Kobayashi, S. (1934) Three new Korean earthworms belonging to the genus Pheretima, together with the wider range of the distribution of Pheretima hilgendorfi (Michaelsen). Journal of Chosen Natural History Society, 19, 1–11.
Kobayashi, S. (1936a) Distribution and some external characteristics of Pheretima (Ph.) carnosa (Goto et Hatai) from Korea. The Science Reports of the Tohoku Imperial University, Fourth Series (Biology), 11(1), 115–138.
Kobayashi, S. (1936b). Earthworms from Kôryô, Korea. The Science Reports of the Tohoku Imperial University, Fourth Series (Biology), 11(1), 139–184.
Kobayashi, S. (1937). Preliminary survey of the earthworms of Quelpart Island. Science Report of the Tohoku Imperial University (B), 11(3), 333–351.
Kobayashi, S. (1938). Earthworms of Korea I. The Science Reports of the Tohoku Imperial University, Fourth Series (Biology), 13(2), 89–170.
Ohfuchi, S. (1937) On the species possessing four pairs of spermathecae in the genus Pheretima, together with the variability of some external and internal characteristics. Saito Ho-On Kai Museum Research Bulletin, 12, 31–136.
Shen, H.-P., Tsai, C.-F. & Tsai, S.-C. (2003) Six new earthworms of the genus Amynthas (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Central Taiwan. Zoological Studies, 42(4), 479–490.
Shen, H.-P., Tsai, S.-C., Tsai, C.-F. & Chen J.-H. (2005) Occurrence of the earthworm Amynthas carnosus (Goto and Hatai, 1899) in the northern Taiwan. Endemic Species Research, 7(1), 95–100.
Stephenson, J. (1925) Oligochaeta from various regions, including those collected by the Mount Everest Expedition 1924. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 95(3), 879–907.
Tsai, C.-F., Shen, H.-P., Tsai, S.-C. & Hsih, H.-L. (2006) A Checklist of Oligochaetes from Taiwan and Its Adjacent Islands. Available from: https://gra103.aca.ntu. edu.tw/gdoc/D93B41001a.pdf.
Tsai, C.-F., Shen, H.-P., Tsai, S.-C., Lin, K.-J., Hsih, H.-L. & Yeo, S.-P. (2009) A checklist of oligochaetes (Annelida) from Taiwan and its adjacent islands. Zootaxa, 2133, 33–48.