A new quadrannulate species of Orobdella (Hirudinida: Arhynchobdellida: Orobdellidae) from Kii Peninsula, Japan

Abstract

A quadrannulate leech species, Orobdella angustata sp. nov., from Kii Peninsula, Honshu, Japan is described. This new species is characterized by its peculiar male atrial cornua. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear 18S rRNA, histone H3, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, tRNACys, tRNAMet, 12S rRNA, tRNAVal, 16S rRNA, tRNALeu and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 markers showed that O. angustata is genetically close to the small quadrannulate species, O. brachyepididymis Nakano, 2016, O. kanaekoikeae Nakano, 2017 and O. naraharaetmagarum Nakano 2016, distributed in Chugoku District of Honshu and Shikoku, Japan.