The delineation of natural areas in New Zealand: Natural areas in New Zealand—earthworms

[First paragraph(s)...]
This paper is concerned with the distribu- tion of the endemic earthworms of New Zealand and its surrounding islands. The fauna consists of 178 species, of 27 genera of the family Megascolecidae, divided between the two subfamilies Acanthodrilinae (126 species, 17 genera) and Megascolecinae (52 species, 10 genera).
In the accompanying map, the main islands of New Zealand have been divided into nine principal areas, based on the distribution of Megascolecidae.