Size variation and geographical distribution of the luminous earthworm Pontodriluslitoralis (Grube, 1855) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) in Southeast Asia and Japan

Teerapong Seesamut; Parin Jirapatrasilp; Ratmanee Chanabun; Yuichi Oba; Somsak Panha

doi:10.3897/zookeys.862.35727

Size variation and geographical distribution of the luminous earthworm Pontodriluslitoralis (Grube, 1855) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) in Southeast Asia and Japan

Zookeys. 2019 Jul 9:862:23-42. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.862.35727. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Teerapong Seesamut^{1

2

3}, Parin Jirapatrasilp², Ratmanee Chanabun⁴, Yuichi Oba³, Somsak Panha²

Affiliations

¹ Biological Sciences Program, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
² Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
³ Department of Environmental Biology, Chubu University, Kasugai 487-8501, Japan.
⁴ Program in Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon 47000, Thailand.

Abstract

The luminous earthworm Pontodriluslitoralis (Grube, 1855) occurs in a very wide range of subtropical and tropical coastal areas. Morphometrics on size variation (number of segments, body length and diameter) and genetic analysis using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene sequence were conducted on 14 populations of P.litoralis from Southeast Asia and Japan. Statistical inference on morphometric data revealed significantly different size variations in the body length and diameter among these 14 populations of P.litoralis. However, discordance between the morphometric and mitochondrial COI gene-based phylogenetic analyses was evident, where the size variations in P.litoralis showed a different pattern from the COI genetic differences. The update on the current distribution of P.litoralis is reported and revealed different aspects of the littoral habitat characteristics between Southeast Asia and Japan.

Keywords: COI; habitat; morphometrics; phylogeny.