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In ecosystems, earthworms such as Lumbricus rubellus increase the rate of transfer between trophic levels by making it easier for plants to uptake nutrients. In food chains, earthworms such as Lumbricus rubellus are primary consumers whose role is converting the energy synthesized by photosynthetic plants into food for animals at higher trophic ...
In Britain, it is primarily called the common earthworm or lob worm (though the name is also applied to a marine polychaete). In North America , the term nightcrawler (or vitalis ) is also used, and more specifically Canadian nightcrawler , referring to the fact that the large majority of these worms sold commercially (usually as fishing bait ...
Earthworms are environmental indicators of soil health. Earthworms feed on the decaying matter in the soil and analyzing the contents of their digestive tracts gives insight into the overall condition of the soil. The earthworm gut accumulates chemicals, including heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, zinc, and copper. The population size of ...
Oligochaetes are well-segmented worms and most have a spacious body cavity (coelom) used as a hydroskeleton.They range in length from less than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) up to 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft) in the 'giant' species such as the giant Gippsland earthworm (Megascolides australis) and the Mekong worm (Amynthas mekongianus).
X-ray showing the skeleton of Typhlonectes (Typhlonectidae). Caecilians' anatomy is highly adapted for a burrowing lifestyle. In a couple of species belonging to the primitive genus Ichthyophis vestigial traces of limbs have been found, and in Typhlonectes compressicauda the presence of limb buds has been observed during embryonic development, remnants in an otherwise completely limbless body. [7]
The Lumbricidae are a family of earthworms.About 33 lumbricid species have become naturalized around the world, [1] but the bulk of the species are in the Holarctic region: from Canada (e.g. Bimastos lawrenceae on Vancouver Island) and the United States (e.g. Eisenoides carolinensis, Eisenoides lonnbergi and most Bimastos spp.) and throughout Eurasia to Japan (e.g. Eisenia japonica, E. koreana ...
Earthworms store their partners' sperm in spermathecae ("sperm stores") and then the clitellum produces a cocoon that collects ova from the ovaries and then sperm from the spermathecae. Fertilization and development of earthworm eggs takes place in the cocoon. Leeches' eggs are fertilized in the ovaries, and then transferred to the cocoon.
Eisenia fetida, known under various common names such as manure worm, [2] redworm, brandling worm, panfish worm, trout worm, tiger worm, red wiggler worm, etc., is a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material. These worms thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure. They are epigean, rarely found in soil.