New Records of Earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata) from the Kopaonik Mountain, with the First Finding of Allolobophora treskavicensis (Mršić, 1991) in Serbia

Abstract

The aim of the study is to present new data on earthworm diversity in the Kopaonik Mountain, which is situated in the central part of southern Serbia and is a part of the Dinaric Range. A list of species including both published data and newly-recorded species of the family Lumbricidae is presented. It comprises 26 species-group taxa of 10 genera. The genera represented by the largest numbers of species are Aporrectodea (5) and Dendrobaena (5), while the genera Bimastos, Eophila, Eiseniella and Octolasion are represented by one species. The published data about two species-group taxa have not been confirmed by the recent studies. With respect to the zoogeographical analysis, the majority of the recorded taxa belong to the group of peregrine species (11). The endemic species are represented by three taxa and belong to the genus Allolobophora. The Balkan endemic Allolobophora treskavicensis (Mršić, 1991), known from a single locality from the Republic of North Macedonia, is a new species for the fauna of Serbia; the recorded new sites from the Kopaonik Mountain represent the northernmost limit of the geographical range of this species.