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Three new earthworm species of the genus Drawida Michaelsen, 1900, namely D. jatinderi Narayanan, sp. nov., D. paliwali Narayanan, sp. nov. and D. proboscidea Narayanan, sp. nov., are described from materials collected from the Kerala state of south-western India. D. jatinderi Narayanan, sp. nov., belongs to D. travancorensis Michaelsen, 1910 species group, characterized by spermathecal pores at C setal line, male pores at mid bc setal lines, glandular prostate, spermathecal atrium present, dorsal pores, and genital markings absent. Whereas D. paliwali Narayanan, sp. nov., and D. proboscidea Narayanan, sp. nov. belong to the D. robusta robusta (Bourne, 1886) group, characterized by glandular prostates and bilobed spermathecal atria. D. jatinderi Narayanan, sp. nov., and D. proboscidea Narayanan, sp. nov. were collected from the midlands of Ernakulam district, and D. paliwali Narayanan, sp. nov., was collected from the higher altitude evergreen forest of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve of Palakkad district. Here we provide a detailed description of the external and internal characteristics of the new species, along with illustrations of the key characters. With the new findings, a total of 52 Drawida species are known from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot.

The Alluroididae is a small oligochaete family with 8 genera and 13 known species occurring in freshwaters and in riverine soils in Africa, the Caribbean and Central and South America. It is here argued that their anatomy shows a transition from that of microdriles to that of megadriles (Metagynophora). A detailed description of comparative anatomy is given, followed by the systematics and some aspects of the ecology of all known genera, species and subspecies.

Only three species of the Atatina genus had been reported, both living distant one of another in the Amazon. Here we reported two new species for the genus living in remnant forest of the Gurupi Biological Reserve. Atatina arimikuriaka sp. nov. with three pairs of spermathecae, prostomium tentacular, and annular clitellum while Atatina arimikuritea sp. nov. has only one pair of spermathecae in IX, annular clitellum, and a smallest tubercula pubertatis. The two species are unique because the annular clitellum is contrasting with the saddle-shaped of other species.

The article attempts to present the species composition and distribution of earthworms in Georgia-one of the central countries of the Caucasus. According to long-term research, about 90 species of earthworms belong to 13 genera. They have been identified throughout Georgia, and most of them (47 species) were described in the nature reserves of eastern, western and central Georgia. 46 species of earthworms (51,7% of Caucasian Lumbricidae) found in Georgia have been identified as endemic species of the Caucasus. The similarities of earthworms' dominant species in the various ecosystems within the Algeti National Park are discussed in the paper. The high level of Caucasus fauna endemism is mainly caused by the unique natural and climatic conditions of the Caucasus, which is clearly expressed in the species composition of earthworms. Among the genera which compose the Caucasian Lumbricidae fauna, the genus Dendrobaena has the most species diversity with 22 species (24.71%), followed by Eisenia (9 species, or 10%). The six genera Bimastos, Eiseniella, Imetescolex, Lumbricus, Octodrilus, and Omodeoia are represented by a single species.

A checklist of earthworm species hitherto known from Indo-Gangetic Plains of India is presented. In total, 98 species and subspecies are recorded, belonging to 33 genera spread over 9 families. Of these, 38 species are recognized as endemics and 34 as exotics. For every species and subspecies, the checklist comprises state-wise distributional information, all important synonyms, type locality and citations to the original description found in the literature.

We present here new county records for 13 counties within Georgia, USA from the collections of the Georgia Museum of Natural History and the authors. These include four families, eight genera, and 23 species. Of these, eight species are new state records: Amynthas carnosus (Goto & Hatai, 1899); Aporrectodea longa (Ude, 1885); Bimastos parvus (Eisen, 1874); Diplocardia deborahae Damoff & Reynolds, 2017; Diplocardia gatesi Murchie, 1965; Diplocardia michaelseni Eisen, 1899; Metaphire hilgendorfi (Michaelsen, 1892); and Murchieona minuscula (Rosa, 1906). These findings are presented alongside an updated checklist for Middle Georgia building on data compiled by Reynolds (2015) to create a practical record for the region.

Achaeta (Enchytraeidae, Oligochaeta, Clitellata) is a genus of small, soil-dwelling annelids, peculiar by the absence of chaetae in all species. Here two new species of this genus are described from afforestation sites in southern Poland. Descriptions are based on the investigation of living and preserved material. The species are also characterized at the DNA level, using fragments of the COI and ITS genes, sequenced from the holotypes and paratypes. The worms are not longer than 4-6 mm, with about 30 to 35 segments, and with medium-large male and female reproductive organs. Achaeta florens sp. nov., discovered at a post-mining site, has four segmental pyriform glands, an oesophageal appendage restricted to segment V, a clitellum with distinct transverse rows and dorsal and ventral interruption, and spermathecae with blossom-like fields of vesicular gland cell apices around the ventrally located ectal pores. The species is without peculiar characters but the combination of characters is diagnostic. Its morphological distinction from A. nurmineni, described from the Indian subcontinent, is difficult due to the poor description of that species; A. nurmineni is therefore considered a species inquirenda. Achaeta gemmata sp. nov., discovered in high abundance at a post-fire site, is without pyriform glands but with conspicuous, gem-like lateral papillae in all preclitellar segments. The papillae are modified and enlarged epidermal gland cells that protrude into the body cavity. The species is without oesophageal appendage and has a dorsally closed clitellum and lateral spermathecal pores. It is superficially similar to Achaeta camerani, found at the same site, but can be distinguished based on sexual and non-sexual characters. A comparison of COI sequences showed 100% identity with a specimen from Sweden, erroneously identified as A. cf. brevivasa. Genetic distance between the two new species based on COI differences is 20%, distances to other species of Achaeta with publicly available COI sequences range from 16% to 26%.

Megascolecid earthworms of the pheretimoid group are dominant detritivores of soil ecosystems in the Japanese Archipelago and East Asia. However, their diversity and phylogenetic relationships are poorly understood. We assembled whole mitogenome sequences for 197 megascolecid earthworms collected throughout Japan to study the phylogenetic relationships, phylogeography, divergence times, and diversification of important morphological characteristics among pheretimoid earthworms. Using 197 mitogenome sequences and 24 published mitogenome sequences from the East Asian mainland (221 sequences in total), we constructed a maximum likelihood tree and found that the pheretimoid earthworms currently assigned to Amynthas, Metaphire, Duplodicodrilus, and Manus are involved in the most senior genus Amynthas; thus, Amynthas can be treated as the sole genus encompassing all of the above genera. Within the Amynthas group, we identified three major lineages that led to four groups of endemic species in Japan. These lineages originated from different lineages on the East Asian mainland and Taiwan Island, indicating multiple colonization events from the East Asian mainland by different ancestral lineages, possibly after the Miocene. We also assembled nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences encompassing the 18S to 28S rRNA genes. The nuclear gene tree showed major groups consistent with the mitogenome tree except for different (and not well-resolved) relationships among major clades. Our molecular data covered 115-158 native and 7 non-native Amynthas group species in Japan in terms of DNA-based species delimitation. Our findings provide a basis for understanding the evolutionary relationships among diversified megascolecid earthworms in the Amynthas group in Japan and adjacent regions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Enchytraeus ohtakai sp. nov. (Enchytraeidae, Clitellata, Oligochaeta) was discovered in the organic matter of a wastewater treatment facility of a plums processing plant in Honshu, Japan. The wastewater is characterized by high organic matter content and low salt concentration. Morphological analysis and DNA-sequencing of a fragment of the COI barcoding gene show that the new species belongs to the E. albidus species group. Within this group it differs in: vasa deferentia restricted to XII, preclitellar bundles with mostly three chaetae, postclitellar bundles with two or three, dorsal blood vessel from XII or XIII, spermathecal ectal duct completely glandular. spermatheca with a large diverticulum, accessory sexual glands present in XII, clitellum ventrally almost absent. The individual gene trees of COI analysis recovered this new species as a monophyletic group within the genus Enchytraeus, closely related to E. albidus species group.

The skins of chameleons have attracted growing interest because they have sensitive mechano-chromic properties and bright colors due to the large surface-to-surface distances ( D s-s ) between neighboring particles and contrast of the refractive index (Δ n ), respectively. Inspired by these, artificial mechano-chromic photonic skins (MPSs) mimicking those of chameleons were fabricated by the large Δ n and D s-s . The fabrication is considerably simple and efficient based on the self-assembly strategy using commercial chemicals and materials. The reflectance of MPSs depends on the value of Δ n , which can be greatly increased to 70% with a Δ n of 0.035, leading to their brilliant colors. Because of the large D s-s , the MPSs possess outstanding mechano-chromic performances, including a large maximal (Δλ = 205 nm) and effective (Δλ e = 184 nm) tuning range of the reflection wavelength, high sensitivity (368), fast responsiveness (2.2 nm/ms), good stabilities (>1 year), and reversibility (>100 times). Based on these advantages, MPSs have been used for self-reporting the strain of earthworms by outputting diverse colors during the peristaltic process, indicating the great potential of the MPSs as visual sensors and optical coatings.