Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) was recorded for the first time from a spring in the Peloponnese,

Greece. This locality represents the westernmost spot of the species range known so far

Grosser, C.

Pešić, V.

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BIOLOGICA NYSSANA  4 (1-2)  December 2013: 1-7  Stešević, D. Caković, D.  Contribution to the alien flora of Montenegro …    97    Short Communication  First record of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) (Hirudinida: Erpobdellidae) from Greece  Clemens Grosser1 and Vladimir Pešić2   1Am Wasserturm 20, 04523 Elstertrebnitz, Germany; 2Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, Cetinjski put bb, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro  * E-mail: vladopesic@gmail.com   Abstract:  Grosser, C., Pešić, V.: First record of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) (Hirudinida: Erpobdellidae) from Greece. Biologica Nyssana, 4 (1-2), December 2013: 97-98. Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) was recorded for the first time from a spring in the Peloponnese, Greece. This locality represents the westernmost spot of the species range known so far. Key words: Hirudinida, Erpobdellidae, Erpobdella concolor, Greece, first record   Introduction  Erpobdella concolor (A n n a n d a l e , 1913) is presumably considered as the East-Mediterranean species (N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t  1999), but  the current knowledge of the geographical distribution of this species is still far from complete. Recently, G r o s s e r  &  P e š i ć  (2006) revealed possibly the eastern border of range of this species in the Kerman Province in Iran. However, it has not been clear how far the range extends to the west in the Mediterranean region. This research deals with the finding of Erpobdella concolor in the Peloponnese, Greece, and establishes the westernmost locality of the species known so far.    Material and methods  On 4th July, 2017, one leech specimen was collected by hand under stones within 10-50 cm off the shore of the small spring (Sentenikos spring, 37°11'31.06"Ν, 22°21'53.61"Ε, close to Zoros spring, region of Sparti town) in the central Peloponnese. The specimen was collected by junior author and preserved in 96% ethanol. The specimen is deposited in the collection of senior author.  Results and discussion  The specimen was identified as Erpobdella concolor (A n n a n d a l e , 1913). The anterior part of the body is cylindrical; posteriorly, there are two blunt keels. The body is unicoloured without paramedian stripes. The male genital pore is situated in furrow b2/a2, the female in furrow b5/c11. The genital pores are separated by two annuli. The size of the leech is 13 mm in the length and 3 mm in the width. The single specimen of Erpobdella concolor (A n n a n d a l e , 1913) from the Peloponnese agree well with the description of N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t  (1999). This species was a long time treated as subspecies of Dina lineata (M ü l l e r , 1774). However, recent phylogenetic studies (T r o n t e l j  &  S k e t  2000; S i d d a l l  2002) based on morphology and DNA sequence data showed that a revision of the family was necessary because the morphological characters (first the annulation) used to distinguish former erpobdellid 4 (1-2) • December 2013: 97-98  BIOLOGICA NYSSANA  4 (1-2)  December 2013: 97-98  Grosser, C. Pešić, D.  First record of Erpobdella concolor …   98 genera are not  informative. For this reason, S i d d a l l  (2002) after morphogenetic analysis synonymized all the genera of Erpobdellidae with Erpobdella. Furthermore, S i d d a l l  (2002) elevated Erpobdella concolor to full species status. According to the most comprehensive revision of the European leeches by Nesemann & N e u b e r t  (1999), Erpobdella concolor is known from Cyprus, southern Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Jordan and the northern part of Saudi Arabia. The stream in village Sirch in the Kerman province (SE Iran) represent the easternmost locality of this species (G r o s s e r  &  P e š i ć  2006). On other side, our finding in the Peloponnese represent the westernmost spot of the species range known so far. No informations on the ecology of this species are available. We found this species in the Peleponnese under stones of a spring with a stream outflow (Fig. 1). The accompaining fauna includes: Planorbis atticus B o u r g u i g n a t , 1852 (Gastropoda), Eylais mutila K o e n i k e , 1897 (Hydrachnidia) and Scarodytes roberti F e r y , 2011 (Coleoptera). In Greece, two erpobdellid species have been found (see: N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t  1999): Erpobdella testacea (S a v i g n y , 1822) and E. latestriata (N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t ,  1995).  Additional field work is highly needed for appropriate evaluation of leech biodiversity in Greece as well the extant distribution of Erpobdella concolor.  References  Grosser, C. & Pešić, V. (2006) On the diversity of Iranian leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea). Archives of Biological Sciences, 58 (1): 21-24. Nesemann, H. & E. Neubert (1999): Annelida, Clitellata: Branchiobdellida, Acanthobdellea, Hirudinea. – In: Schwoerbel, J., & P. Zwick (eds): Süßwasserfauna von Mitteleuropa. Begründet von A. Brauer 6/2, 178 pp., (Spektrum) Heidelberg Siddall, M. E. (2002). Phylogeny of the leech family Erpobdellidae (Hirudinea: Oligochaeta). Invertebrate Systematics, 16: 1–6. Trontelj, P. & Sket. B. (2000) Molecular re-assessment of some phylogenetic, taxonomic and biogeographic relationships between the leech genera Dina and Trocheta (Hirudinea: Erpobdellidae). Hydrobiologia, 438: 227-235.   Fig. 1. The westernmost locality of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913): spring in region of Sparti town, Peloponnese, Greece  

First record of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) (Hirudinida: Erpobdellidae) from Greece

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First record of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) (Hirudinida: Erpobdellidae) from Greece

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