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Species Diversity
Abstract
The terrestrial hirudinid leech Poecilobdella nanjingensis Yang, 1996 is reported for the first time from Taiwan, having previously been found only in continental China. A morphological description of the new material from Taiwan is provided here, confirming that, contrary to the diagnosis of Poecilobdella Blanchard, 1893, P. nanjingensis lacks a vaginal caecum in its female reproductive system. In addition, molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal that P. nanjingensis is part of a clade consisting of the hirudinid genera defined by the lack of a vaginal caecum. These results highlight the need for further taxonomic studies on the generic position of this species.
The authors are grateful to Mr Yu-Chang Yang and Dr Huei-Ping Shen (Endemic Species Research Institute, Taiwan) for providing valuable specimens of P. nanjingensis. TN expresses his sincere thanks to Professor Tong Yang (Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for providing valuable information on P. nanjingensis. Part of this study was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP13J00450, JP15J00720, and JP26840127 to TN.
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