A morphological reappraisal of Tubifex blanchardi Vejdovský, 1891 (Clitellata: Tubificidae)

Tubifex blanchardi Vejdovský, 1891 is a freshwater tubificid, often living in sympatry with Tubifex tubifex (Müller 1774). Although considered from its discovery as a species on its own, its biological status is debated. During the early seventies T. blanchardi was reduced to a mere form of T. tubifex, as a particular case of polymorphism in chaetal pattern. Using classical histological techniques, microdissections of portions of the male genital apparatus and phalloidin staining of dissected copulatory organs we investigated 163 mixed individuals of T. blanchardi and T. tubifex belonging to sympatric populations from the Lambro River (Milan, Northern Italy). The internal morphology of T. blanchardi is described for the first time. Our results show that T. tubifex and T. blanchardi differ in several characters concerning both their external and internal morphology, and in the fine organization of their copulatory organs. Several independent character sets support the separation of T. blanchardi from T. tubifex, suggesting that it is an independent species. This study also supports the idea that T. blanchardi and T. bergi (Hrabě, 1935), another species closely related to T. tubifex, are not conspecific. The observed morphological differences between allopatric populations of T. tubifex are discussed.