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Issue: Vol. 5760 No. 2: 23 Feb. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-02-23
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5760.2.2
Page range: 189-208
Abstract views: 58
PDF downloaded: 1

Unearthing hidden diversity: two new moniligastrid earthworms (Clitellata, Moniligastridae) from Silent Valley National Park of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, Kerala, India

Center for Conservation Ecology & Department of Zoology; M.E.S Mampad College (Autonomous—University of Calicut); Malappuram—676542; Kerala; India.
Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam— 686560; Kerala; India.
House No 77/62; Mansarovar; Jaipur—302020; Rajasthan; India.
Center for Conservation Ecology & Department of Zoology; M.E.S Mampad College (Autonomous—University of Calicut); Malappuram—676542; Kerala; India.; Wildlife Research and Conservation Trust—679334; Kerala; India.
Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam— 686560; Kerala; India.; School of Environmental Sciences; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam—686560; Kerala; India.
School of Environmental Sciences; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam—686560; Kerala; India.
Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development; Mahatma Gandhi University; Priyadarsini Hills; Kottayam— 686560; Kerala; India.
School of Biological and Environmental Sciences; Faculty of Basic Sciences; Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences; Solan -173212; Himachal Pradesh; India.
Annelida Drawida endemic Moniligaster Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Oligochaeta shola-grassland complex

Abstract

New moniligastrid earthworms of the genera Moniligaster Perrier, 1872 and Drawida Michaelsen, 1900 are described from the specimens collected from the Silent Valley National Park, in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve of the Western Ghats mountain chain, Kerala State, India. M. girishi Narayanan, Paliwal & Julka, sp. nov., and D. reynoldsi Narayanan, Paliwal & Julka, sp. nov., were collected from the tropical wet evergreen forest and montane grassland, respectively. By the possession of single undivided spermathecal atrial gland at each side of the anterior body, M. girishi sp. nov., belonging to the gravelyi species-group and it can be distinguished from other group members by the condition of the prostate and especially the prostatic capsule. Drawida reynoldsi sp. nov., belongs to the D. robusta species-group, which is characterized by glandular prostates and bilobed spermathecal atria. D. reynoldsi sp. nov., can easily be differentiated from all the members of the robusta group by the sausage-like prostatic capsule and large erect spermathecal atrium. An updated key to species of the genus Moniligaster is also provided. With the inclusion of the two newly identified species, India’s moniligastrid fauna now comprises 95 recognized species, highlighting both the richness and continued discovery potential of this group.

 

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How to Cite

Fahis, K., Narayanan, S.P., Paliwal, R., Das, K.A., Sylas, V., Babu, N., Thomas, A. & Julka, J. (2026) Unearthing hidden diversity: two new moniligastrid earthworms (Clitellata, Moniligastridae) from Silent Valley National Park of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, Kerala, India. Zootaxa, 5760 (2), 189–208. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5760.2.2