Dendrobaena schmidti (Michaelsen, 1907)

Dendrobaena schmidti

A separate clade within the genus Dendrobaena was found to contain D. schmidti and associated taxa (Fig. 1). D. schmidti was initially described as a highly variable species by Michaelsen (1910), who distinguished several morphological forms with subtle differences between them. Pizl (1984) and Kvavadze (1985, 1999, 2000; Kvavadze et al., 1989, 2007) isolated several novel taxa within this complex. Currently, several taxa are known to possess the diagnostic position of the clitellum and tuberculae pubertatis characteristic for D. schmidti : D. baksanensis Pizl (= D. schmidti colchica Kvavadze, 1985 ), D. jaloniensis (= D. schmidti jaloniensis Kvavadze, 1985 ), D. surbiensis Kvavadze, 1985 (= D. schmidti surbiensis Kvavadze, 1985 ), D. malevichi Kvavadze, 1985 (= D. schmidti malevichi Kvavadze, 1985 ), D. marinae Kvavadze, 1985 (= D. schmidti marinae Kvavadze, 1985 ), D. adaiensis (Michaelsen, 1900) (= D. schmidti montana ( Michaelsen, 1910)) , as well as two species initially described as separate species: D. mamissonica Kvavadze, 1985 and Dendrobaena verihemiandra Kvavadze, Patsiashvili & Suladze, 1989 . These taxa differ in body color, the number of spermathecae, the presence or absence of diverticules of calciferous glands, and the number of grooves on genital setae. The validity of these taxa was a matter of debate ( Csuzdi et al., 2006; Omodeo & Rota, 1989; Vsevolodova-Perel, 2003, etc.). Vsevolodova-Perel (2003) did not accept the changes proposed by Kvavadze (1985), but recognized D. tellermanica as a separate species with a longer clitellum and a different shape of tuberculae pubertatis. However, our tree does not support this suggestion, i.e., the division of the whole complex into only two species, D. schmidti and D. tellermanica (Fig. 1); D. schmidti appears to be a species complex with high genetic diversity which is often cryptic.

In addition to the various taxa earlier recognized as related to D. schmidti , the complex also included D. n. nassonovi. This taxon is also a Crimean-Caucasian subendemic, which is believed to have formed in the Greater Caucasus ( Perel, 1979). D. n. nassonovi differs from D. schmidti in clitellum position (beginning on the 25th vs. the 26th segment). Also, tuberculae pubertatis of D. n. nassonovi are straight, located on segments 30–32, while those of D. schmidti complex look as two bumps on the 30th and 31st segments. Among the D. schmidti complex, D. baksanensis and D. jaloniensis are the closest to D. n. nassonovi for the number of seminal vesicles and the position of the spermathecae, and D. tellermanica , for the position of the clitellum and the form of tuberculae pubertatis.