Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5437 No. 1: 11 Apr. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-04-11
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5437.1.1
Page range: 1-14
Abstract views: 3
PDF downloaded: 3

Two new species of Achaeta (Enchytraeidae, Oligochaeta) from afforested post-mining and post-fire sites in Poland

Enchylab; A Coruña; Spain
The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation; Institute of Hydrobiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Wuhan; China
Department of Soil Science and Agrophysics; Faculty of Agriculture and Economics; University of Agriculture in Krakow; Krakow; Poland
Annelida Taxonomy soil fauna soil biodiversity Clitellata

Abstract

Achaeta (Enchytraeidae, Oligochaeta, Clitellata) is a genus of small, soil-dwelling annelids, peculiar by the absence of chaetae in all species. Here two new species of this genus are described from afforestation sites in southern Poland. Descriptions are based on the investigation of living and preserved material. The species are also characterized at the DNA level, using fragments of the COI and ITS genes, sequenced from the holotypes and paratypes. The worms are not longer than 4–6 mm, with about 30 to 35 segments, and with medium-large male and female reproductive organs. Achaeta florens sp. nov., discovered at a post-mining site, has four segmental pyriform glands, an oesophageal appendage restricted to segment V, a clitellum with distinct transverse rows and dorsal and ventral interruption, and spermathecae with blossom-like fields of vesicular gland cell apices around the ventrally located ectal pores. The species is without peculiar characters but the combination of characters is diagnostic. Its morphological distinction from A. nurmineni, described from the Indian subcontinent, is difficult due to the poor description of that species; A. nurmineni is therefore considered a species inquirenda. Achaeta gemmata sp. nov., discovered in high abundance at a post-fire site, is without pyriform glands but with conspicuous, gem-like lateral papillae in all preclitellar segments. The papillae are modified and enlarged epidermal gland cells that protrude into the body cavity. The species is without oesophageal appendage and has a dorsally closed clitellum and lateral spermathecal pores. It is superficially similar to Achaeta camerani, found at the same site, but can be distinguished based on sexual and non-sexual characters. A comparison of COI sequences showed 100% identity with a specimen from Sweden, erroneously identified as A. cf. brevivasa. Genetic distance between the two new species based on COI differences is 20%, distances to other species of Achaeta with publicly available COI sequences range from 16% to 26%.

References

  1. Abrahamsen, G. (1969) Enchytraeus norvegicus sp. nov.: a new species of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) from Norway. Nytt Magasin for Zoologi, Oslo 17, 161–164.
  2. Chalupský, J. (1992) Terrestrial Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) and Parergodrilidae (Polychaeta) from Sweden, with description of a new enchytraeid species. Zoologica Scripta, 21, 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1992.tb00316.x
  3. Chen, J., Schmelz, R.M., Zhang, Z. & Xie, Z. (2022) The enchytraeid fauna (Enchytraeidae: Clitellata) of the Fanjing Mountain National Nature Reserve (China) with description of two new species. Journal of Natural History, 56, 1957–1996. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2022.2140085
  4. Cognetti, L. (1899) Descrizione dell’Anachaeta camerani, nuova specie della famiglia degli Enchitreidi. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della Reale Università di Torino 14, 1–4.
  5. Collado, R. & Martínez-Ansemil, E. (1996) Inventario dos Oligoquetos acuáticos de Galicia (Annelida: Oligochaeta). Seminario de Estudos Galegos, Ediciones do Castro, O Castro-Sada, A Coruña, 38 pp.
  6. Dash, M.C. & Thambi, A.V. (1978) A taxonomic study of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) from grassland soils of southern Orissa, India. Revue d’Ecologie et de Biologie du Sol, 15, 129–134.
  7. DeWaard, J.R., Ratnasingham, S., Zakharov, E.V., Borisenko, A.V., Steinke, D., Telfer, A.C., Perez, K.H., Sones, J.E., Young, M.R., Levesque-Beaudin, V., Sobel, C.N., Abrahamyan, A., Bessonov, K., Blagoev, G., deWaard, S., Ho, C., Ivanova, N.V., Layton, K.K.S., Lu, L., Manjunath, R., McKeown, J.T.A., Milton, M.A., Miskie, R., Monkhouse, N., Naik, S., Nikolova, N., Pentinsaari, M., Prosser, S.W.J., Radulovici, A.E., Steinke, C., Warne, C.P. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2019) A reference library for Canadian invertebrates with 1.5 million barcodes, voucher specimens, and DNA samples. Scientific Data, 6, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0320-2
  8. Dózsa-Farkas, K. & Boros, G. (2005) Achaeta antefolliculata sp.n., a new enchytraeid species (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae) from the rock grassland of the Sas-hegy in Hungary. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 51, 279–285.
  9. Dózsa-Farkas, K. & Felföldi, T. (2017) On the enchytraeid fauna of Kőszeg Mountains with description of a new Fridericia species (Clitellata, Enchytraeidae). Opuscula Zoologica Budapest, 48, 41–54. https://doi.org/10.18348/opzool.2017.1.41
  10. Dózsa-Farkas, K., Felföldi, T., Nagy, H. & Hong, Y. (2018) New enchytraeid species from Mount Hallasan (Jeju Island, Korea) (Enchytraeidae, Oligochaeta). Zootaxa, 4496 (1), 337–381. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4496.1.27
  11. Erséus, C., Rota, E., Matamoros, L. & De Wit, P. (2010) Molecular phylogeny of Enchytraeidae (Annelida, Clitellata). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 57, 849–858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.005
  12. Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R. & Vrijenhoek, R. (1994) DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology, 3, 294–299.
  13. Friend, H. (1913) British enchytraeids. V. Species new to science. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, London, 1913, 255–271. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2818.1913.tb01023.x
  14. Graefe, U. (1980) Systematische Untersuchungen an der Gattung Achaeta (Enchytraeidae, Oligochaeta). 1. Beschreibung von Achaeta brevivasa sp. n. und Achaeta camerani (Cognetti). Mitteilungen aus dem hamburgischen zoologischen Museum und Institut, 77, 35–39.
  15. Graefe, U. (1989) Systematische Untersuchungen an der Gattung Achaeta (Enchytraeidae, Clitellata). 2. Beschreibung von vier neuen Arten. Mitteilungen aus dem hamburgischen zoologischen Museum und Institut, 86, 127–131.
  16. Graefe, U. (2007) Achaeta diddeni sp. nov. (Enchytraeidae, Clitellata) from northern German lowlands. Folia Facultatis scientiarum naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia, 110, 35–40.
  17. Józefowska, A., Woś, B., Pietrzykowski, M. & Schlaghamerský, J. (2020) Colonisation by enchytraeids as a suitable indicator of successful biological reclamation of post-mining technosols using alders. Applied Soil Ecology, 145, 103300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.06.003
  18. Kane, R.A. & Rollinson, D. (1994) Repetitive sequences in the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer of Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma intercalatum and Schistosoma mattheei. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, 63, 153–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/0166-6851(94)90018-3
  19. Kapusta, P., Sobczyk, L., Rozén, A. & Weiner, J. (2003) Species diversity and spatial distribution of enchytraeid communities in forest soils: effects of habitat characteristics and heavy metal contamination. Applied Soil Ecology, 23, 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0929-1393(03)00064-7
  20. Kasprzak, K. (1972) Achaeta seminalis sp. n., a new species of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) from Poland and notes on other species of the genus Achaeta Vejdovský, 1877. Bulletin de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences, Série des sciences biologiques Classe II, 20, 187–191.
  21. Kasprzak, K. (1986a) Skąposzczety wodne i glebowe, II. Rodzina: Wazonkowce (Enchytraeidae). Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Zoologii, Warszawa, 366 pp.
  22. Kasprzak, K. (1986b) Structure of enchytraeid (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae) communities in urban green areas of Warsaw. Memorabilia Zoologica, Warsaw, 41, 71–80.
  23. Kumar, S., Stecher, G., Li, M., Knyaz, C. & Tamura, K. (2018) MEGA X: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35, 1547–1549. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy096
  24. Martinsson, S. & Erseus, C. (2021) Cryptic Clitellata: Molecular Species Delimitation of Clitellate Worms (Annelida): An Overview. Diversity, 13, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13020036
  25. Nakamura, Y. & Christensen, B. (1978) Enchytraeids in Japan (I). Bulletin of the National Grassland Research Institute, 12, 32–37.
  26. Nielsen, C.O. & Christensen, B. (1959) The Enchytraeidae. Critical revision and taxonomy of European species (Studies on Enchytraeidae VII). Natura Jutlandica, 8–9, 1–160.
  27. Nielsen, C.O. & Christensen, B. (1961) The Enchytraeidae. Critical revision and taxonomy of European species. Supplement 1. Natura Jutlandica, 10, 1–23.
  28. O’Connor, F.B. (1963) Marionina cambrensis sp. nov.: a new enchytraeid worm (Oligochaeta) from North Wales. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, including Zoology, Botany and Geology, London, 6, 761–766. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936308651427
  29. O’Connor, F.B. (1967) The Enchytraeidae. In: Burges, A. & Raw, F. (Eds.), Soil Biology. Academic Press, London, pp. 213–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-395699-6.50012-2
  30. Pietrzykowski, M., Gruba, P. & Sproull, G. (2017) The effectiveness of Yellow lupine (Lupinus luteus L.) green manure cropping in sand mine cast reclamation. Ecological Engineering, 102, 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.01.026
  31. Prabhoo, N.R. (1966) Studies on Indian Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta: Annelida)—II. Description of two new species. Journal of the Zoological Society of India, 16, 82–86.
  32. Rota, E. (1995) Italian Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta). I. Bollettino Di Zoologia, 62, 183–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/11250009509356067
  33. Rota, E. (2015) Five new species of Enchytraeidae (Annelida: Clitellata) from Mediterranean woodlands of Italy and reaffirmed validity of Achaeta etrusca, Fridericia bulbosa, and F. miraflores. Journal of Natural History, 49, 1987–2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2015.1009514
  34. Schmelz, R.M. (2003) Taxonomy of Fridericia (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae). Revision of species with morphological and biochemical methods. Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg, 1740859620 1740859620 Neue Folge1740859620, 38, 1–415, 73 figs.
  35. Schmelz, R.M. & Collado, R. (2010) A guide to European terrestrial and freshwater species of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta). Soil Organisms, 82, 1–176.
  36. Schmelz, R.M., Beylich, A., Boros, G., Dózsa-Farkas, K., Graefe, U., Hong, Y., Römbke, J., Schlaghamerský, J. & Martinsson, S. (2017) How to deal with cryptic species in Enchytraeidae, with recommendations on taxonomical descriptions. Opuscula Zoologica Budapest, 48 (Supplementum 2), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.18348/opzool.2017.S2.45
  37. Schmelz, R.M., Collado, R. & Römbke, J. (2008) Mata Atlântica enchytraeids (Paraná, Brazil): The genus Achaeta (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae). Zootaxa, 1809 (1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1809.1.1
  38. Vejdovský, F. (1878) Zur Anatomie und Systematik der Enchytraeiden. Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Böhmischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, 1877, 294–304.
  39. Vejdovský, F. (1879) Vorläufige Mittheilungen über die fortgesetzten Oligochaetenstudien. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 2, 183–185.
  40. Vivien, R., Holzmann, M., Werner, I., Pawlowski, J., Lafont, M. & Ferrari, B.J. (2017) Cytochrome c oxidase barcodes for aquatic oligochaete identification: development of a Swiss reference database. PeerJ, 5, e4122. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4122
  41. Woś, B., Józefowska, A., Chodak, M. & Pietrzykowski, M. (2023) Recovering of soil organic matter and associated C and N pools on regenerated forest ecosystems at different tree species influence on post-fire and reclaimed mine sites. Geoderma Regional, 33, e00632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2023.e00632