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Type: Article
Published: 2025-05-29
Page range: 225-244
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Description of three new subspecies of Eisenia nordenskioldi (Annelida: Crassiclitellata) from Northeastern China

State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration; School of Environment; Northeast Normal University; Changchun 130117; China.; Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Diversity; College of Life Science; Langfang Normal University; Langfang 065000; China.
Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Diversity; College of Life Science; Langfang Normal University; Langfang 065000; China.; Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment; State Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Changchun 130102; China.
Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Diversity; College of Life Science; Langfang Normal University; Langfang 065000; China.
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration; School of Environment; Northeast Normal University; Changchun 130117; China.; Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Diversity; College of Life Science; Langfang Normal University; Langfang 065000; China.
Department of Molecular Biotechnology; Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Novosibirsk; Russia.
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration; School of Environment; Northeast Normal University; Changchun 130117; China.; Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment; State Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Changchun 130102; China.
College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences; Mindanao State University at Naawan; Naawan 9023; Misamis Oriental; Philippines.
Annelida China Lumbricidae subspecies taxonomy

Abstract

The Eisenia nordenskioldi complex is known for its high karyotype diversity and morphological type, and there are many cryptic species present in this complex. The species is widely distributed in the Palearctic biogeographic region including Northeast China. However, the taxonomy of this species complex remains inadequately defined. In our study, we examined the morphological characters of the Eisenia nordenskioldi complex in Northeast China that have not been examined before and used mitochondrial marker COI and nuclear markers ITS2, AKAP17 and FLAD1 to analyze their genetic variation. We described three new subspecies namely, E. nordenskioldi shenzi ssp. nov. E. n. jilinensis ssp. nov. and E. n. chinensis ssp. nov., which show morphological distinction and supported with molecular data. Molecular phylogenetic analyses show that the Eisenia nordenskioldi species complex is not monophyletic, supporting previous works.

 

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How to Cite

Qin, M., Zhao, H., Zhang, Y., Han, A.C.N., Shekhovtsov, S.V., Wu, D. & Aspe, N.M. (2025) Description of three new subspecies of Eisenia nordenskioldi (Annelida: Crassiclitellata) from Northeastern China. Zootaxa, 5642 (3), 225–244. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5642.3.2