Cynotus

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Cynotus
Systematics
Over trunk : Lophotrochozoa (Lophotrochozoa)
Trunk : Annelids (Annelida)
Class : Belt worms (Clitellata)
Order : Little bristle (Oligochaeta)
Family : Kynotidae
Genre : Cynotus
Scientific name of the  family
Kynotidae
Jamieson , 1971
Scientific name of the  genus
Cynotus
Michaelsen , 1891

Cynotus is a genus of articulated worms living in the ground from the order of the little bristle (Oligochaeta), whichresemble earthworms in their way of lifeand occur exclusively ( endemic ) on Madagascar . It is the only genus within the family Kynotidae , so far 20 species have been described.

features

The species of the genus Kynotus are very long, the longest known species is Kynotus giganteus with a living length of 135 to 140 centimeters and a diameter of 15 to 25 millimeters.

The body of the worms is cylindrical and they have an annular or saddle-shaped clitellum , where the saddle-shaped clitellum could be a juvenile trait. The tubercula pubertatis is absent, and there are no dorsal pores. The paired male sex pores are located on the 16th segment, rarely on the 15th segment, and lie in copulation cushions that form erect hook-shaped appendages and are associated with tubular bristle glands. The spermatheks have numerous pores in front of the clitellum, which are often only indistinctly recognizable. Other typical features relate to the formation of the muscular esophagus , a muscular stomach is missing and there are also no calcium glands.

Way of life and distribution

No information is available about the way of life of the worms of the genus. The animals live in the soil and, like other groups of oligochaetes, probably feed on the detritus in the soil.

The genus and thus the family only occurs in Madagascar and is therefore endemic to the island nation.

Systematics

The first known species of the genus was described in 1887 by the German zoologist Konrad Keller as Geophagus darwini , but the genus name had already been in use for the cichlid genus Geophagus since 1840. In 1891 Michaelsen gave the genus name Kynotus for the type species then named Kynotus darwini . The genus was assigned to the Glossoscolecidae in the subfamily Microchaetinae, in 1971 it was assigned by Jamieson to its own subfamily Kynotinae and in 1980 to its own, monogeneric family Kynotidae.

So far, a total of 20 valid species have been described within the genus Kynotus . The following list contains 18 species that are listed in the Earthworm species database:

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Malalatiana Razafindrakoto, Csaba Csuzdi, Eric Blanchart: New and Little Known Giant Earthworms from Madagascar (Oligochaeta: Kynotidae). African Invertebrates 52 (2), 2011: pp. 285-294. doi : 10.5733 / afin.052.0205
  2. ↑ Csaba Csuzdi, Malalatiana Razafindrakoto, Eric Blanchart: New and little known earthworm species from Central Madagascar (Oligochaeta: Kynotidae). Zootaxa 3578, 2012: pp. 36-42. Abstract
  3. ↑ Csaba Csuzdi: Earthworm species. A searchable database. Retrieved April 1, 2015

literature

  • Csaba Csuzdi, Malalatiana Razafindrakoto, Eric Blanchart: New and little known earthworm species from Central Madagascar (Oligochaeta: Kynotidae). Zootaxa 3578, 2012: pp. 36-42. Abstract
  • Malalatiana Razafindrakoto, Csaba Csuzdi, Eric Blanchart: New and Little Known Giant Earthworms from Madagascar (Oligochaeta: Kynotidae). African Invertebrates 52 (2), 2011: pp. 285-294. doi : 10.5733 / afin.052.0205