Earthworms (Megascolecidae: Oligochaeta) from Mount Kosciusko, Australia
Abstract
Earthworms collected for the Australian CSIRO from the Mt Kosciusko region of the Australian Alps are described and the zoogeography of the fauna is discussed. Of the known indigenous elements of the Australian Megascolecidae, Mt Kosciusko lacks Acanthodrilinae but harbours all tribes of the subfamily Megascolecinae, viz,the tribes Perionychini, Dichogastrini and Megascolecini. The Perionychini are represented by Diporochaeta pheretima sp. nov., Graliophilus montiskosciuskoi sp. nov., G. woodi sp. nov., Cryptodrilus fastigatus Fletcher, 1889, C. tenuis Fletcher 1889, and by two species of the new genus Vesiculodrilus, namely V. frenchi (Spencer, 1892) and V. purpureus sp. nov. Other species, not from Mt Kosciusko, which are transferred to Vesiculodrilus as new combinations, are Cryptodrilus gippslandicus Spencer, 1892; C. hobartensis Spencer, 1895; C. insularis Spencer, 1895; C. tanjilensis Spencer, 1892; Megascolides tisdalli Spencer, 1900; Plutellus uncinatus Stephenson, 1933; Cryptodrilus victoriae Spencer, 1900, and Megascolides volvens Spencer, 1900. Diporochaeta pheretima sp. novo is considered to have close affinities with Vesiculodrilus but must be placed in Diporochaeta pending revision of that genus. The Dichogastrini are represented on Mt Kosciusko by Notoscolex montiskosciuskoi sp. nov. and the Megascolecini by Oreoscolex imparicystis gen. et sp. nov. and Megascolex celmisiae sp. nov.
Evidence is presented for restriction of Graliophilus montiskosciuskoi to subalpine and alpine zones, a rare phenomenon in the Australian fauna. Zoogeographically the earthworm fauna of Mt Kosciusko has dose affinities with surrounding southeastern Australia and its tertiary isolate, Tasmania.
