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Laura Tagliaferro

  • Biodiversity Journal, 14 (4): 0883-0895

    Rüdiger M. Schmelz, Daniele Pagli, Mårten J. Klinth, Dino Scaravelli, Laura Tagliaferro & Luana Papett
    Enchytraeus andrasiformis Nagy, Dózsa-Farkas et Felföldi, 2023 (Oligochaeta Enchytraeidae) from Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Testudines Cheloniidae) nests in Tuscany, Italy
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2023.14.4.883.895

    ABSTRACT
    Invertebrates infesting sea turtle nests are rarely identified to species. Here we report on the enchytraeid oligochaete worm Enchytraeus andrasiformis Nagy, Dózsa-Farkas et Felföldi, 2023 from a nest of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Testudines Cheloniidae), on a beach in Tuscany, Italy. Enchytraeus andrasiformis belongs to the Enchytraeus albidus species complex, a taxonomically difficult group of closely related species that live as decomposers in organically enriched habitats of the marine littoral. Detailed morphological investigations and DNA sequencing of the COI barcode gene was carried out to assure a correct identification. The species diagnosis is revised and the biogeography of species of the E. albidus complex in the Mediterranean Sea is discussed. We hypothesize that the worms of E. andrasiformis were attracted to the nest by previously damaged and decaying eggs.