Microchaetidae
| Microchaetidae | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Microchaetidae | ||||||||||||
| Michaelsen , 1900 |
Microchaetidae is the name of a family of little bristles in the order of Crassiclitellata (earthworms in the broader sense) that are common in southern Africa .
features
The Microchaetidae have a cylindrical body and have no dorsal pores. The esophagus forms a chewing stomach in the 7th segment , while there is no such in the midgut. Between the 9th and 10th segment, the intestine has a single calciferous gland. The closed blood vessel system of the Microchaetidae shows neither subneural nor supra-oesophageal vessels. The well-developed, large nephridia show numerous loops in the first segments and there often open into the intestine. Rarely - in the genus Tritogenia - there can be 2 pairs of metanephridia per segment.
The clitellum the hybrid is always saddle-shaped and receives in the range from 4 to 34. Segment about 20 segments a. A rib-shaped or papillary pubertal tubercle is present, and the pair of male genital orifices lie within the clitellum behind the 16th segment. There are bristle glands on the genital bristles and there are no copulation sacks. The animals have no prostates. The adiverticulate (no blind sacs), sometimes serpentine receptacula seminis open outwards via inconspicuous numerous, sometimes paired openings in the furrows between the 10th and 15th segment.
Distribution, habitat and way of life
The Microchaetidae are widespread in southern Africa . Like other Crassiclitellates, the Microchaetidae are soil-dwellers and substrate-eaters , which digest the organic components of the ingested substrate.
Genera
The Microchaetidae family has about 6 genera :
- Bilimba Rosa, 1890
- Brachydrilus Benham, 1888
- Geogenia Kinberg, 1867
- Microchaetus Rapp, 1849 (Synonym Microchaeta Beddard, 1886 )
- Proandricus Plisko, 1992
- Tritogenia Kinberg, 1867
The genus Kazimierzus Plisko, initially assigned to this family , now has the status of a separate family Kazimierzidae. The genus Kynotus Michaelsen, 1891 (synonym Geophagus Keller, 1885 ) also has its own status as a family Kynotidae .
literature
- Wilhelm Michaelsen: Oligochaeta: Vermes. R. Friedländer and Son, Berlin 1900. Microchaetidae , p. 448.
- Reginald William Sims (1981): A classification and the distribution of earthworms, suborder Lumbricina (Haplotaxida: Oligochaeta). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology Series 39 (2), pp. 103–124, here p. 111.
- Thembeka C. Nxele, J. Danuta Plisko, Tarombeta Mwabvu, T. Oliver Zishiri: A new family Kazimierzidae for the genus Kazimierzus, earlier recorded to the composite Microchaetidae (Annelida, Oligochaeta). African Invertebrates 57 (2), pp. 111-117.