Some New Earthworms of the Genus Amynthas (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Mt. Hohuan of Taiwan

Abstract

This paper describes 1 new subspecies and 3 new species of terrestrial earthworms belonging to the genus Amynthas (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Mt. Hohuan on the subtropical island of Taiwan from a region at elevations of 2300 to 3200 m with a cold-temperate climate. They are Amynthas exiguus aquilonius subsp. nov., A. catenus sp. nov., A. proasacceus sp. nov., and A. wulinensis sp. nov. Of these 4 new forms, A. exiguus aquilonius is conspecific to A. exiguus exiguus (Gates) of Burma, while A. catenus and A. proasacceus are closely related, respectively, to A. monoserialis (Chen) and A. asacceus (Chen) of Hainan Island, China. The endemic terrestrial earthworm fauna in this cold-temperate mountain region of Taiwan is apparently more closely related to those of tropical southern China and Southeast Asia than to that of cold-temperate central China.