New Distribution Record of Octolasion tyrtaeum (Savigny, 1826) and Octolasion cyaneum (Savigny, 1826) (Family: Lumbricidae) Earthworm Species from Leh-Ladakh Union Territory, India
Chandra Kanta Mandal
Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India), FPS Building, Indian Museum Campus, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata-700016, India.
John Warren Reynolds
*
Oligochaetology Laboratory, Kitchener, Ontario, N2A 4E1 Canada and New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick, E2K 1E5, Canada.
Amjad Hussain
Department of Zoology, University of Ladakh, India.
Md. Nurul Hasan
Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India), FPS Building, Indian Museum Campus, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata-700016, India.
Shyamasree Ghosh
School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, An OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Bhubaneswar, 752050, Odisha, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
There are five species of the genus Octolasion Örley, [1] in the family Lumbricidae in the world. In India, only two species Octolasion tyrtaeum [2] and Octolasion cyaneum [2], have been recorded. Leh-Ladakh, an Indian territory, has no previous earthworm records. This study reports two species Octolasion tyrtaeum [2] and Octolasion cyaneum [2], as new records from Leh-Ladakh, India.
Keywords: Earthworms, lumbricidae, Octolasion cyaneum, Octolasion tyrtaeum, new records, taxonomy, India