Glossoscolex alessioi Dudas, Brown & Bartz, 2025

Glossoscolex alessioi Dudas, Brown & Bartz , sp. nov.

( Figures 4 View FIGURE 4 and 5 View FIGURE 5 )

Holotype. COFM BRSC0296 , adult specimen, annual crops under no-tillage system, in 0–20 cm soil, by TSBF method, Faxinal dos Guedes, Santa Catarina, Brazil, -26.785627, -52.229168, 883 m asl, August 10, 2023, G.G. Brown, G.C. Francisco, M.L.C. Bartz, N. Durães, R. T. Dudas, R. Roani, T. Ferreira, W.C. Demetrio colls. GoogleMaps

Paratype. COFM BRSC0337 , one adult, same information as the holotype .

Other materials. COFM BRSC0338 , one adult, same information as the holotype .

Etymology. The species was named in honor of the farmer Carlos Roberto Alessio and sons (Rodrigo and Diego), owners of the Banhado Verde Farm and pioneers of no-tillage system in Santa Catarina state.

External morphology. Holotype: body length 27 mm after ethanol fixation. Body mass: 0.04 g fresh weight (alcohol preserved). Number of segments: 129. Diameter: 2.2 mm in the pre-clitellar region (segment X), 2.7 mm in the clitellum (segment XVI) and 1.8 mm in the post clitellar region (segment XXX). Paratype: length 42 mm after ethanol fixation. Body mass: 0.1 g. Number of segments: 143. Diameter: 2.6 mm in segment X, 3.3 mm in the clitellum (segment XVI), and 2.4 mm in segment XXX. Body cylindrical, non-pigmented after fixation. Prostomium epilobic. Setae closely paired, visible throughout, setae cd visible from IV onwards and ab visible from VII. Setal arrangement aa:ab:bc:cd:dd, 3:1.1:1:1.9:3 at segment XXX. Clitellum in XV–XXIV saddle shaped. Genital marks or tubercula pubertatis absent. One pair of male pores on B line setae, on XVI,XVII, 3.6 mm apart. Female pores not seen. Nephropores near B line.

Internal morphology. Septa strong, thickened on 7/8/9/10, strongly attached to the body wall, due to thickness. Gizzard in VI. One pair of calciferous glands in XII, of composite-tubular type, with dorsal blood vessels. Intestine begins in segment XV, and the typhlosole starts in segment XX as cupped folds of the lamellar type. Five pair of hearts, being the last in XI, and dorsal blood vessel visible in segments VIII–X and above the calciferous glands. Holonephridial starting in IX–X and extending throughout the body; exonephric, stomate, positioned close to the body wall and intestine. Organs tubular, non-vesiculated, slender, and free in the coelom. Paired testes sacs large in XI, beginning just anterior and ventral to the calciferous gland. Seminal vesicles long, starting in XII and going until LXX. They start coiled (spiral) and become two lines above the intestine. Ovaries not seen. Spermathecae absent. One pair of bean-shaped copulatory bulbs in XVII-2/3 XX, 5 mm long, in the holotype.

Remarks. The saddle-shaped clitellum in XV–XXIV of G. alessioi sp. nov. resembles that of G. bonariensis Cordero, 1942 , G. catharinensis Michaelsen, 1918 , G. cardosoi Feijoo & Brown, 2023 , and G. dallavecchiai sp. nov. However, two distinct features differentiate G. alessioi sp. nov. from these species: the form and extension of the seminal vesicles (XII–LXX, spiral) and the copulatory bulbs (XVII-2/3 XX, bean-shaped). In G. bonariensis , the seminal vesicles extend from XI to LII and are straight, with the copulatory bulbs oval in XVI–XIX. In G. catharinensis , the vesicles are tubular, extending from XVII to CCXXX, and the bulbs may be reniform in XVI– XVII or oval in XVII–XIX. In G. cardosoi , the seminal vesicles are restricted to XII and the bulb occurs in XVIII.