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Earthworm head. Depending on the species, an adult earthworm can be from 10 mm (0.39 in) long and 1 mm (0.039 in) wide to 3 m (9.8 ft) long and over 25 mm (0.98 in) wide, but the typical Lumbricus terrestris grows to about 360 mm (14 in) long. [9]
The subclass Oligochaeta, which includes the earthworms as the largest members of the group, mostly live on land, burrowing in damp soil. Smaller freshwater species burrow in mud or live among aquatic vegetation. The marine species are mostly tiny and live in the interstices between sand grains, from the intertidal zone to the deep sea. [2]
However, 'earthworm' can be a source of confusion since, in most of the world, other species are more typical. For example, through much of the unirrigated temperate areas of the world, the "common earthworm" is actually Aporrectodea (=Allolobophora) trapezoides, which in those areas is a similar size and dark colour to L. terrestris.
Marine deep sea polychaetes under the genus Osedax will colonize at whale falls in many different oceans, using a symbiont that can digest the bones within the carcasses (Jones et al,2007) This earned them the common name of "boneworms," and they are speculated to be a keystone species of these types of environments due to lack of organisms in ...
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).
A similar strategy is employed by the deep sea worm Syllis ramosa, which lives inside a sponge. The rear ends of the worm develop into "stolons" containing the eggs or sperm; these stolons then become detached from the parent worm and rise to the sea surface, where fertilisation takes place. [20]
Eulagisca gigantea is a species of scale worm commonly known as the Antarctic scale worm. [2] This species is specifically found in the deep-sea in cold waters like the Antarctic Ocean.
Annelida, (polychaetes and sea leeches); Brachiopoda, marine animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces ; Bryozoa, also known as moss animals or sea mats; Chaetognatha, commonly known as arrow worms, are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton;