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Type: Article
Published: 2017-05-26
Page range: 57–82
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An annotated checklist of earthworms of Greece (Clitellata: Megadrili)

Department of Zoology, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1525 Budapest, P.O. Box 102, Hungary.
Dept. B: Support Research, Development Projects & Research Products, Directorate General of Agricultural Research, Hellenic Agricultural Organization DEMETER, Athens, Greece.
Department of Crop Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
Department of Zoology, Eszterházy Károly University, Eger, Hungary.
Annelida Oligochaeta earthworms Balkan species list Greece

Abstract

The earthworm fauna of Greece is reviewed. According to the up-to-date checklist, the earthworm fauna of Greece consists of 67 species and subspecies, of which 59 taxa belong to the family Lumbricidae, three to Megascolecidae, two to Acanthodrilidae and to Ocnerodrilidae and one taxon to the family Criodrilidae. Three species are recorded for the first time from the country: Allolobophora kosowensis kosowensis Karaman, 1968, Amynthas gracilis (Kinberg, 1867) and Eukerria saltensis (Beddard, 1895). Eisenia spelaea var. athenica Černosvitov, 1938 is proposed to be a synonym of Aporrectodea rosea (Savigny, 1826). The earthworm fauna of Greece is characterized by a large number of strict endemic species belonging to the family Lumbricidae (9 taxa), together with the occurrence of another 10 Balkanic endemic species.

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