Species diversity and phylogenetic relationship of earthworms in Mount Emei, China

Mount Emei is located at the southwest edge of the Sichuan Basin. It is in the intersection area of various natural elements and rich in biological species. It provides favorable conditions for breeding earthworm species diversity. However, the current record of earthworm species in Mount Emei is very limited. To explore the species diversity of earthworms and investigate the phylogenetic relationship of these species in this area, we researched in Mount Emei. The less disturbed, dark, and moist habitats were selected as the sampling plots. The mitochondrial COl, 12S, and nuclear 16S gene sequences were used for phylogenetic analysis. A total of 15 species were obtained, of which eight new species have increased the diversity of earthworm species in Mount Emei. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree shows earthworms in Mount Emei can be divided into two larger clades, and Metaphire and Amynthas should be merged into one genus.