Describing variations and taxonomic status of earthworms collected from selected areas in Misamis Oriental, Philippines using principal component and parsimony analysis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agriculture Xavier University. Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

2 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines

Abstract

The present study describes variations and determines the taxonomic status of the collected earthworms from selected areas in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro city. Principal component and parsimony analyses were used to describe variations and groupings in collected earthworm individuals. Of the five groups of earthworms determined and described, one group was found to be allochthonous and anthropochorous. Cladistic analysis yielded a strict consensus tree with a length of 253 steps, consistency index =50 and retention index =69. Four groups were identified to belong to Family Megascolecidae, and one group to Family Eudrilidae. Differences observed were attributed to the number and pattern of genital markings, prostomium type, and the number and location of spermathecae. None of the four new megascolecid groups completely match with the nearest genera of Oriental megascolecids. The results of the study clearly indicate the existence of the five new species of earthworms.

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