Earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae, Criodrilidae and Acanthodrilidae) of Hatay Province, Turkey, with description of three new lumbricids

The earthworm fauna of Turkey has recently been summarized by CSUZDI and on the whole 66 lumbricid species were reported. Three new species: Dendrobaena mahunkai, Dendrobaena omodeoi and Perelia hatayica spp. n. from the newly collected earthworm material in the Hatay Province, Turkey, are described. Altogether, 20 species were recorded (families Lumbricidae, Criodrilidae, and Acanthodrilidae); 12 to 15 species are autochthonous to the region and five to eight species are introduced. The earthworm fauna of Hatay shows more similarity with that of the Levant than with that of Anatolia, indicating that the area around the Bay of Iskenderun is part of the Levant zoogeographic province rather than of the Anatolian one. The new earthworm data indicate that neither the river Orontes nor the Amanus Mountains form the northern border of the Levant province as proposed earlier by POR, but the Taurus Mts should be regarded as a geographic barrier.