Martiodrilus ( Botaria ) flavus Decaëns & Bartz, 2024

Martiodrilus ( Botaria) flavus Decaëns & Bartz , n. sp.

( Figs 2F View FIG ; 6 View FIG )

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TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. French Guiana • Adult (with posterior regeneration); Tumuc-Humac, Mitaraka Massif , transition forest on DIADEMA project C trail, in decaying trunk; 2°14’19”N, 54°26’6”W; 389 m a.s.l.; III.2015; T. Decaëns, E. Lapied leg.; BOLD Sample ID: EW-MI15-0001 ; MNHN. GoogleMaps

Paratypes. French Guiana • 3 adult specimens; Tumuc-Humac, Mitaraka Massif , plateau forest on DIADEMA project D trail; 2°12’57”N, 54°27’25”W; 381 m a.s.l.; III.2015; T. Decaëns, E. Lapied leg.; BOLD Sample ID: EW-MI15-0008 , EW-MI15-0009 , EW-MI15-0010 ; CEFE GoogleMaps • 2 adult specimens; Tumuc-Humac, Mitaraka Massif , slope forest on trail to Sommet en Cloche Inselberg ; 2°14’6”N, 54°27’11”W; 352 m a.s.l.; III.2015; T. Decaëns, E. Lapied leg.; BOLD Sample ID: EW-MI15-0358 , EW-MI15-0359 ; MNHN. GoogleMaps

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — French Guiana • 1 juvenile specimen; Tumuc-Humac, Mitaraka Massif , plateau forest at base camp; 2°14’2”N, 54°27’1”W; 331 m a.s.l.; III.2015; T. Decaëns, E. Lapied leg.; BOLD Sample ID: EW-MI15-0175 ; MNHN GoogleMaps • 1 juvenile specimen, 8 cocoons; Tumuc-Humac, Mitaraka Massif , plateau forest on DIADEMA project D trail; 2°12’57”N, 54°27’25”W; 381 m a.s.l.; III.2015; T. Decaëns, E. Lapied leg.; BOLD Sample ID: EW-MI15-0024 , EW-MI15-0028 , EW-MI15-0012 , EW-MI15-0013 , EW-MI15-0014 , EW-MI15-0015 , EW-MI15-0016 , EW-MI15-0017 , EW-MI15-0018 ; MNHN. GoogleMaps

ETYMOLOGY. — This species is named in reference to the remarkable yellow pigmentation of the body observed in most adult specimens.

ECOLOGY. — Martiodrilus ( B.) flavus Decaëns & Bartz , n. sp. was predominantly found in plateau forests (81.25% of specimens) and other well-drained habitats such as slope forests (12.5%) and transition forest at the edge of rocky savannah (6.25%) ( Fig. 6G View FIG ). It preferentially inhabits under large decaying trunks fallen at the soil surface (81.25%), but was also occasionally found within the soil (18.75%) ( Fig. 6H View FIG ). Cocoons are tan yellow, spherical, 15-20 mm in diameter, with marked mucrons at the anterior and posterior ends.

DISTRIBUTION. — Martiodrilus ( B.) flavus Decaëns & Bartz , n. sp. is known from the Mitaraka Massif.

DESCRIPTION

External morphology ( Fig. 6A, B View FIG )

Body shape cylindrical. Body pigmentation yellow when alive ( Fig. 2F View FIG ) sometimes with a transition to grey toward the tail and in regerating parts of the body, clitellum pink when alive, dark beige after ethanol fixation. Body length: 285 mm in the holotype, 265 to 300 mm in the paratypes (average: 283.3 mm; n = 3), after ethanol fixation. Body mass: 21.32 g after ethanol fixation in the holotype, 15.45 to 23.70 g in the paratypes (average: 20.56 g; n = 3). Diameter: 9.3 to 12.5 mm in the preclitellar region, 12.2 to 13 mm in the clitellum, 10.5 to 13 mm in the postclitellar region. Number of segments: 234 in the holotype, 245 to 264 in the paratypes (average: 254.7; n = 3). Prostomium proepilobic. Setae closely paired, ab and cd beginning in III or IV. Setal arrangement aa:ab:bc:cd:dd = 10:1:12:1:34. Clitellum in (½ XIII) XIV-½ XXVI, saddle-shaped ( Fig. 6A View FIG ). Genital markings in V-XIII, intraclitellar in XIV-XXIV ( ab position). Tubercula pubertatis linear in XIX-XXV ( Fig. 6B View FIG ). Male pores not recognised, and ovipores in XIV, anterior and slightly dorsal to b. Spermathecal pores in 5/6, 6/7 and 7/8, in line of ab. Nephridial pores begining in III-IV, in D line.

Internal anatomy ( Fig. 6 View FIG C-F)

Septa: membranous, slightly thickened in 9/10 to 13/14. Gizzard: muscular and well developed in VI, but displaced to X, XI, with an average size (width × length) of 6.15 × 8.05 mm. Calciferous glands: eight pairs in VII-XIV, yellow bean-shaped with a brown round distal appendix in VII-XII, deprived of appendix and kidney-shaped in XIII-XIV; all with composite tubular structure. Esophagus-intestine transition in XIX; intestine without caeca. Typhlosole abruptly begining in XXV, structured as a large folded tissue ( Fig. 6E, F View FIG ). Hearts: six pairs, the two intestinal pairs well developed in X-XI, enclosed in the testes sacs. Excretory apparatus holoic, nephridia with simple nephrostome. Testes sacs: midventral or hypoesophagic in X and XI. Seminal vesicles: two pairs in XI-XII, short and flat lobulated, and respectively inserted ventrally in X and XI by a tube passing through the septa. Spermathecae: three pairs, VI, VII and VIII, without diverticula ( Fig. 6D View FIG ).

REMARKS

Of the Martiodrilus species found in French Guiana, M. ( B.) flavus Decaëns & Bartz , n. sp. is easily distinguished by its relatively large size and yellow to grey skin pigmentation. The presence of three pairs of spermathecae links it to Botaria , however it differs from the other 22 species in the subgenus by their position in 5/6-7/8 instead of 6/7-8/9. It is similar in the position of the clitellum to Martiodrilus ( Botaria) vassae Zicsi & Czusdi, 1999 and Martiodrilus ( Botaria) gara Righi, 1995 , but differs in the position of the tubercula pubertatis in XIX-XXV instead of XXI-XXV in M. ( B.) vassae or XIX-XXIII, ½XXIV in M. ( B.) gara . It also differs from M. ( B.) gara by its larger size ( 265 to 300 mm, instead of 50 to 100 mm), and from both species by its yellow to grey pigmentation, instead of green in M. ( B.) vassae and reddish-violet in M. ( B.) gara . Martiodrilus ( B.) flavus Decaëns & Bartz , n. sp. is clearly separated from the other Martiodrilus species of the Mitaraka Massif by its COI barcode ( Table 2 View TABLE ). This species corresponds to OTU#064 in Maggia et al. (2021).