Main Content

The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 5881

Pietro Omodeo; On aquatic Oligochaeta Lumbricomorpha in Europe. Hydrobiologia 115:187-190, 1984

Reprint

In File

Notes

Twelve species of aquatic earthworms have been found in European inland waters where they occupy different environments. Two species live exclusively in the sapropel, that is in the black fetid asphyctic mud, while four species can be found either in the sapropel or in the more oxygenated gyttja. The remaining species prefer this type of soil, but Eisenia spelaea in Italy lives only within submerged litter in mountain streams. The biology of these earthworms is discussed and the possibility of their utilization by man is considered.