New species of the earthworm genus Anisochaeta (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from New South Wales
Abstract
The number of Anisochaeta from New South Wales is more than doubled to 50 species in the present account. Twenty-seven species are newly described, one of which is tentatively attributed to the dubious genus Propheretima. A checklist is presented with the distributions of the twenty-three previously described Anisochaeta from NSW that were variously attributed to the genera Perichaeta, Megascolex, and Spenceriella. One species, Megascolex crateroides Boardman, 1943, is herein synonymized with Anisochaeta gracilis (Fletcher, 1886b). A replacement name, Anisochaeta trichaeta, is proposed for the homonym of the Victorian Trichaeta australis Spencer, 1900. A key is provided for currently known NSW species. The generic definition of Anisochaeta is modified to accommodate forms with the newly discovered vesiculate nephridial condition. Several of the new species have setae between the male pores, further reducing the distinctiveness of Propheretima from the prior genus Spenceriella, which is itself currently synonymized under Anisochaeta.
