Three new widely distributed and polymorphic species of Amynthas earthworms (Oligochaeta, Clitellata, Megascolecidae) from South China.

Three new earthworm species are described from South China, namely Amynthas rusticanus sp. nov., Amynthas scaberulus sp. nov., and Amynthas yuanjiangensis sp. nov. They are widely distributed in South China, and be polymorphic in reproductive organs. Of three new species, A. rusticanus sp. nov. is a small species with three pairs of spermathecal pores in 5/6-7/8 or two pairs of spermathecal pores in 5/6-6/7; it has developed prostate glands in XVI-XX. A. scaberulus sp. nov. is a medium-sized species with two pairs of spermathecal pores in 7/8-8/9; the lower edge of each spermathecal pore forms a tiny papilla, and the prostate glands are either degenerated or developed. A. yuanjiangensis sp. nov. is a medium-sized species with four pairs of spermathecal pores in 5/6-8/9 and has degenerated or developed prostate glands. Barcode data for each species (partial sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) are provided as well.

Continuous village sewage treatment by vermifiltration and activated sludge process.

Rural sewage treatment is now paid more and more attention in China. Vermifiltration technology could be one of the practical options under the review of previous studies. It showed good removal rates of contaminants on small to pilot scales for short-term tests. However, the impacts of season, temperature or other unknown factors are usually not taken into account. In this study, a larger vermifilter was designed to treat the sewage on village scale for long-term operation. Filter material composition was optimized by a half year experimentation. The treatment effects of vermifiltration were also compared with traditional activated sludge process for the same influent sewage. The results showed that the designed vermifiltration system could continuously treat the sewage produced by more than 100 inhabitants per day. COD, BOD5 and SS concentration in outflow were rather stable despite the fluctuation of hydraulic loading rate and organic input during one year test. It can also remove N and P to some extent. A suspending design of vermifilter bed cause adequate oxygen content in outflow of vermifilter. The comparative test showed that the treatment efficacy of vermifiltration was similar as activated sludge process. Generally, this vermifiltration system has practical application value for village sewage treatment.

Three new earthworm species of the tokioensis-group in the genus Amynthas (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Guangxi Province, China.

Three new species of the genus Amynthas are described from Guangxi Province, China. They are named A. dissimilis sp. nov., A. anteporus sp. nov. and A. marsupiformis sp. nov. All of them have two pairs of spermathecal pores in 6/7-7/8, and belong to the tokioensis-group. Their morphological characteristics are compared to similar species in tokioensis-group from China and other Asian countries. In addition, the mitochondrial COI and 12S-tRNA-Val-16S sequence of three new species were determined, then pairwise distances between species were calculated. Both morphological and molecular evidences could easily distinguish the new species from earthworms previously reported in the tokioensis-group.

Four new Amynthas and Metaphire earthworm species from nine provinces in southern China.

Four new species belonging to genera Amyntha and Metaphire were discovered from an extensive area in southern China, covering the provinces Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui. The species are named Amynthas dispersus Sun Qiu, sp. nov., Amynthas shanghangensis Sun Qiu, sp. nov., Amynthas dentiformis Sun Jiang, sp. nov. and Metaphire sanmingensis Sun Jiang, sp. nov. The first two new species have four pairs of intersegmental spermathecal pores in 5/6-8/9. A. dispersus has elliptical and glandular male pore porophores raised on a low pad-like area surrounded by two to three shallow skin folds, the genital papillae are variable in the spermathecal pore and male pore regions, and prostate glands are vestigial or rudimentary. Amynthas shanghangensis has male porophores surrounded by three papillae, each prostate gland accompanied by an accessory gland, and the distal ½-⅓ of the spermathecal diverticulum dilated into a rod-shaped seminal chamber. Amynthas dentiformis has two pairs of spermathecal pores in 7/8-8/9, male pores always surrounded by two papillae, and small sacs on the dorsal and ventral margins of the intestinal caecae; the prostate gland occasionally has stalked accessory glands. M. sanmingensis is in the Metaphire houlleti-group, and has secondary male pores opening to copulatory pouches, rod-shaped spermathecal seminal chamber, as well as variable genital papillae in spermathecal and male pores regions. The GenBank accession numbers of DNA barcode data are attached under the description of each species.

New earthworms of the Amynthas morrisi-group (Oligochaeta, Megascolecidae) from Hainan Island, China.

This paper describes two new species of earthworms belonging to the Amynthas morrisi-group from Hainan Island, China: Amynthas zonarius sp. nov. and Amynthas wuzhimontis sp. nov. Both have two pairs of spermathecal pores in 5/6-6/7, and simple intestinal caeca. Amynthas zonarius sp. nov. has a pad-like male porophore, with flat-topped tubercle surrounded by 5 skin folds distal half of the spermathecal diverticulum dilated into band-shaped seminal chamber. Amynthas wuzhimontis sp. nov. has a seminal chamber constricted into moniliform subchambers and a glandular pad-like elliptical male pore porophore surrounded by the tumid area. Partial COI sequences of the holotypes of the two new species have been submitted to GenBank as DNA barcodes to enable molecular species identification.

Anaerobic Treatment of Palm Oil Mill Effluent in Pilot-Scale Anaerobic EGSB Reactor.

Large volumes of untreated palm oil mill effluent (POME) pose threat to aquatic environment due to the presence of very high organic content. The present investigation involved two pilot-scale anaerobic expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors, continuously operated for 1 year to treat POME. Setting HRT at 9.8 d, the anaerobic EGSB reactors reduced COD from 71179 mg/L to 12341 mg/L and recycled half of sludge by a dissolved air flotation (DAF). The average effluent COD was 3587 mg/L with the consistent COD removal efficiency of 94.89%. Adding cationic polymer (PAM) dose of 30 mg/L to DAF unit and recycling its half of sludge caused granulation of anaerobic sludge. Bacilli and small coccid bacteria were the dominant microbial species of the reactor. The reactor produced 27.65 m(3) of biogas per m(3) of POME which was utilized for electricity generation.

Zero discharge performance of an industrial pilot-scale plant treating palm oil mill effluent.

Palm oil is one of the most important agroindustries in Malaysia. Huge quantities of palm oil mill effluent (POME) pose a great threat to aqueous environment due to its very high COD. To make full use of discharged wastes, the integrated "zero discharge" pilot-scale industrial plant comprising "pretreatment-anaerobic and aerobic process-membrane separation" was continuously operated for 1 year. After pretreatment in the oil separator tank, 55.6% of waste oil in raw POME could be recovered and sold and anaerobically digested through 2 AnaEG reactors followed by a dissolved air flotation (DAF); average COD reduced to about 3587 mg/L, and biogas production was 27.65 times POME injection which was used to generate electricity. The aerobic effluent was settled for 3 h or/and treated in MBR which could remove BOD3 (30°C) to less than 20 mg/L as required by Department of Environment of Malaysia. After filtration by UF and RO membrane, all organic compounds and most of the salts were removed; RO permeate could be reused as the boiler feed water. RO concentrate combined with anaerobic surplus sludge could be used as biofertilizer.

[Treatment of municipal wastewater with low C/N ratio using an intermittently aerated membrane bioreactor].

A laboratory-scale intermittently aerated membrane bioreactor was applied to treat synthetic household wastewater characterized with low organic matter and high nitrogen concentration. Experimental results showed that at the condition of HRT 12 h, aeration/non-aeration cycle 30 min/60 min and a very long SRT, more than 90% of COD and close 100% ammonia nitrogen could be removed, and the average removal efficiency of TN was more than 80%, but this treatment process seemed to be not available in phosphorus removal. Nitrification was accomplished quickly and completely in the system. The denitrification appeared to be the rate-limiting step for TN removal in the system. Furthermore, a positive linear correlation between the fouling rate and the MLSS concentration was founded, and the higher the MLSS concentration was, the higher fouling rate was.