Abstract
Until now, occurrence of 98 earthworm species has been reported from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of Kerala. Most of the known species were recorded more than 80–90 years ago. A recent survey of the earthworms of the state has revealed the presence two more species, namely Octolasion tyrtaeum (Savigny, 1826) and Mallehulla indica Julka & Rao, 1982. Here, we are discussing about the details of the specimens collected, its distribution, etc., in the state.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr. M. Ramesan, Mr. S. Arun Sasi and Mr. Toms Augustine for the help offered during the fieldwork. We are also thankful to Mr. Karunakaran Akhil Dev for preparing the distribution map. We are grateful to the Department of Forest and Wildlife, Government of Kerala, for providing the sanction and necessary facilities.
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Narayanan, S.P., Sathrumithra, S., Christopher, G. et al. First Record of Some Earthworm Species (Oligochaeta: Megadrile) from Kerala Part of Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, Southwest India. Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. 42, 509–512 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40009-019-00797-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40009-019-00797-y