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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 ...
Burrowing is performed by forcing the front end of the worm into a crevice and widening the gap by body expansion. Large quantities of soil are swallowed in the process. This is mixed with mucus as it passes through the gut, being used to plaster the tunnel walls, forming a lining. Excess material is extruded on the ground surface, forming a ...
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 ...
The average thickness of the drilosphere (lining of an earthworm burrow) is 2 mm, [4] but it can be much wider (about 8 mm) around the burrows of litter-feeding earthworms. [ 5 ] Through the drilosphere, earthworms influence soil microbial communities, with effects on microbial processes related to soil organic matter and nutrient dynamics. [ 6 ]
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.
These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes), and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics.
The IRS boosted taxpayer services through Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act but still faces processing claims from a coronavirus pandemic-era tax credit program and is slow to resolve certain ...
The fossil indicates a 5 centimeter depth of bioturbation in muddy sediments by a burrowing worm. [67] This is consistent with food-seeking behavior, as there tended to be more food resources in the mud than the water column. [68] However, this hypothesis requires more precise geological dating to rule out an early Cambrian origin for this ...