An unidentified earthworm species with a well-developed clitellum
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Annelida
Clade:
Pleistoannelida
Clade:
Sedentaria
Class:
Clitellata
Order:
Opisthopora
Suborder:
Lumbricina
An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they were in the order of Opisthopora since the male pores opened posterior to the female pores, although the internal male segments are anterior to the female. Theoretical cladistic studies have placed them in the suborder Lumbricina of the order Haplotaxida, but this may change.[clarification needed] Other slang names for earthworms include "dew-worm", "rainworm", "nightcrawler", and "angleworm" (from its use as angling hookbaits). Larger terrestrial earthworms are also called megadriles (which translates to "big worms") as opposed to the microdriles ("small worms") in the semiaquatic families Tubificidae, Lumbricidae and Enchytraeidae. The megadriles are characterized by a distinct clitellum (more extensive than that of microdriles) and a vascular system with true capillaries.[2]
Earthworms are commonly found in moist, compost-rich soil, eating a wide variety of organic matters,[3] which include detritus, living protozoa, rotifers, nematodes, bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms.[4] An earthworm's digestive system runs the length of its body.[5] They are one of nature's most important detritivores and coprophages, and also serve as food for many low-level consumers within the ecosystems.
Earthworms exhibit an externally segmented tube-within-a-tube body plan with corresponding internal segmentations, and usually have setae on all segments.[6] They have a cosmopolitan distribution wherever soil, water and temperature conditions allow.[7] They have a double transport system made of coelomic fluid that moves within the fluid-filled coelom and a simple, closed circulatory system, and respire (breathe) via cutaneous respiration. As soft-bodied invertebrates, they lack a true skeleton, but their structure is maintained by fluid-filled coelom chambers that function as a hydrostatic skeleton.[citation needed]
Earthworms have a central nervous system consisting of two ganglia above the mouth, one on either side, connected to an axial nerve running along its length to motor neurons and sensory cells in each segment. Large numbers of chemoreceptors concentrate near its mouth. Circumferential and longitudinal muscles edging each segment let the worm move. Similar sets of muscles line the gut tube, and their actions propel digested food toward the worm's anus.[8]
Earthworms are hermaphrodites: each worm carries male and female reproductive organs and genital pores. When mating, two individual earthworms will exchange sperm and fertilize each other's ova.
^Anderson, Frank; James, Samuel. "The evolution of earthworms". BMC. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
^Omodeo, Pietro (2000). "Evolution and biogeography of megadriles (Annelida, Clitellata)". Italian Journal of Zoology. 67–2 (2): 179–201. doi:10.1080/11250000009356313. S2CID 86293273.
^Bonkowski, Michael; Griffiths, Bryan S.; Ritz, Karl (November 2000). "Food preferences of earthworms for soil fungi". Pedobiologia. 44–6 (6): 667. doi:10.1078/S0031-4056(04)70080-3.
^Lofty, Clive A.; Lofty, J. R. (1977). Biology of Earthworms. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 80. ISBN 0-412-14950-8.
^Edwards, Clive A.; Lofty, J.R. (1977). Biology of Earthworms. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 19. ISBN 0-412-14950-8.
^Edwards, Clive A.; Lofty, J. R. (1977). Biology of Earthworms. London: Chapman & Hall. pp. preface. ISBN 0-412-14950-8.
^Coleman, David C.; Crossley, D.A.; Hendrix, Paul F. (2004). Fundamentals of Soil Ecology. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier Academic Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-12-179726-0.
^Cleveland P. Hickman Jr.; Larry S. Roberts; Frances M Hickman (1984). Integrated Principles of Zoology (7th ed.). Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishing. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-8016-2173-4.
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