Abstract:Hedgehogs in the genus Mesechinus (Family Erinaceidae) include four species: M. dauuricus, M. hughi, M. wangi and M. miodon. M. wangi is only distributed in Mt Gaoligong, southwestern Yunnan, China. M. hughi is distributed in the north central part of China, and there is an isolated distribution area in the south of Anhui, China. Other two species are mainly distributed in the central and northern China (include Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, et al.), and extend to Mongolia, Russia and other countries. But there is no record of the genus Mesechinus in Zhejiang, China. One specimen (Fig. 1) of Mesechinus was collected from Mogan Mountain (30°36′27″ N, 119°51′39″ E, altitude 601 m), Deqing, Zhejiang Province, China, on September 13th, 2021. Its ear is short and no longer than the surrounding spines, which is short and thin and nearly whole white. Most spines have four sections: white constituting the basal two-thirds, followed by a black ring, narrow light ring, and black tip. The skull features (Fig. 2, Table 1) are basically the same as those described by M. hughi. We sequenced the complete cytochrome b gene (Cyt b) and obtained homologous sequences of other Mesechinus species from GenBank. The p-distance of Cyt b was 0.35% between the populations in Zhejiang and Anhui, ranges from 4.92%﹣5.27% between the populations in Zhejiang and Shaanxi, and more than 7% between the populations in Zhejiang and other hedgehogs. The maximum likelihood tree based on the complete Cyt b gene showed that the specimen forms a monophyletic clade with other specimens of M. hughi (popularity rating BS = 97, Fig. 3). Based on the morphological and molecular evidences, we confirm that the specimen belongs to M. hughi, making it the first record of this species in Zhejiang, China. It is also the new distribution area found in the south of Changjiang River after the discovery of M. hughi in Anhui Province. M. hughi is widely distributed in the hilly and mountainous areas of western Zhejiang China. Its habitat is mainly woodland, and it is distributed in the same area as the E. amurensis. The known altitude range is from 30 m at the lowest to 700 m at the highest. There were accurate records in Changxing, Anji, Deqing, Yuhang, Linan, Chunan and so on in Zhejiang, China. The Huangshan Mountain area was adjacent to the hilly and mountainous areas in western Zhejiang, shares similar characteristics in terrain, landform, vegetation and so on. It is speculated that M. hughi should be widely and continuously distributed in southern Anhui and western Zhejiang, but it needs to be further investigated.