Two new species of the <i>Drawida japonica</i> species complex (Oligochaeta, Moniligastridae) from East Asia delimited by integrative taxonomic methods.

ABSTRACT: The Drawida japonica (Michaelsen, 1892) species complex is a cosmopolitan earthworm group that is widely distributed throughout Asia, and has a high degree of diversity. Nonetheless, the species composition of this species complex remains ambiguous due to limited taxonomic investigation. An integrative taxonomic approach, incorporating both morphological and molecular datasets, is herein applied to elucidate the D. japonica species complex across East Asia, with the objective of delimiting putative new species. External and internal morphological characters were examined for taxonomic identification. For molecular phylogenetic analysis, one mitochondrial marker, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and three nuclear loci, namely 28S rRNA (28S), A-kinase anchor protein 17

SUBMITTER: Liu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12743248 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature