Eisenia andrei
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Eisenia andrei copulating |
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| Eisenia andrei | ||||||||||||
| Bouché , 1972 |
Eisenia andrei is a species of earthworm that is closely related to the compost worm Eisenia fetida and is often confused with it.
features
Eisenia andrei reaches a body length of about 60 to 120 millimeters, its diameter is 3 to 6 millimeters. When sexually mature, the body is divided into 80 to 120 segments; its front section is cylindrical and too weakly square towards the rear. The somewhat saddle-shaped clitellum comprises six to eight segments, usually from the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth to the thirty-second to thirty-fourth segment. The so-called puberty ridges (tubercula pubertatis) form narrow edges along the abdominal (ventral) border over about three segments.
The species is almost indistinguishable from the sister species Eisenia fetida in these characteristics and can only be distinguished from this morphologically by color characteristics. Eisenia andrei is intensely reddish-brown in color and completely monochrome, while Einsenia fetida is brightly colored at the furrows of the segment boundary and is therefore strikingly striped. This species is also lighter overall, often with a light colored belly side.
A certain distinction is difficult for laypeople. Even specialist authors do not always differentiate between the two species, which are then grouped together in the collective species Eisenia fetida sensu lato (see left). Since the staining characteristics are not always reliable and individuals are often assigned to the wrong genetic unit after staining, genetic tests ( DNA barcoding ) are necessary for a reliable determination .
distribution
One assumption is that these compost worms are of European origin and have spread synanthropically worldwide. Other regions of origin are also discussed.
In Europe, finds from Norway and Western Europe are documented. Wild catches from Germany or Austria have not yet been published. However, since E. andrei is also bred and marketed in German worm farms, the species can also be expected here. Studies by J. Römbke et al., Who differentiated between E. andrei and E. fetida , only found E. fetida as a wild form in Germany .
Biology and way of life
Compost worms live epigeically, i.e. H. in the litter of the soil. They can be found in compost and manure heaps , in kitchen gardens and in the forest floor. They feed on rotten organic material, fungi and microorganisms, and thus play an important role in humus formation . They are therefore used as model organisms in ecotoxicological tests.
Taxonomy and systematics
Originally viewed by F. André (1963) as a color variant of E. fetida ( Eisenia fetida var. Unicolor ), the species was classified as a subspecies and renamed by MB Bouché in 1972. J. Jaenicke then discovered in 1982 that it was a species of its own. This was confirmed by further research. Recent studies indicate that both E. andrei and E. fetida further subdivide into cryptospecies .
Individual evidence
- ^ Reginald William Sims, Brian M. Gerard: Earthworms. Synopses of the British Fauna, New Series 31. EJBrill London etc. (published for the Linnean Society of London and the Estuarine and Brackish Water Association), 1985. ISBN 90 04 07 582 8 , at pages 79-83.
- ^ AJ Reinecke & SA Viljoen (1991): A comparison of the biology of Eisenia fetida and Eisenia andrei (Oligochaeta). Biology and Fertility of Soils 11: 295-300.
- ↑ a b c Robabeh Latif, Masoumeh Malek, Csaba Csuzdi (2017): When morphology and DNA are discordant: Integrated taxonomic studies on the Eisenia fetida / andrei complex from different parts of Iran (Annelida, Clitellata: Megadrili). European Journal of Soil Biology 81: 55-63. doi: 10.1016 / j.ejsobi.2017.06.007
- ↑ Press release from March 30, 2015 . Senckenberg Society for Natural Research. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ↑ Jörg Römbke, Manuel Aira, Thierry Backeljau, Karin Breugelmans, Jorge Domínguez, Elisabeth Funke, Nadin Graf, Mehrdad Hajibabaei, Marcos Pérez-Losada, Pablo G. Porto, Rüdiger M. Schmelz, Joaquín Vierna, Antón Vizcaíno, Markus Pfenninger (2016 ): DNA barcoding of earthworms (Eisenia fetida / andrei complex) from 28 ecotoxicological test laboratories. Applied Soil Ecology 104: 3-11. doi: 10.1016 / j.apsoil.2015.02.010
- ↑ Eisenia andrei . Fauna Europaea. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ↑ a b Ricarda Lehmitz, Jörg Römbke, Stephan Jänsch, Stefanie Krück, Anneke Beylich, Ulfert Graefe: Checklist of earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) from Germany. Zootaxa 3866 (2), 2014; Pp. 221-245. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.3866.2.3 .
