Mud tubeworms

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Mud tubeworms
Tubifex, anchored in tubes on the bottom

Tubifex , anchored in tubes on the bottom

Systematics
Over trunk : Lophotrochozoa (Lophotrochozoa)
Trunk : Annelids (Annelida)
Class : Belt worms (Clitellata)
Order : Little bristle (Oligochaeta)
Family : Naididae
Subfamily : Mud tubeworms
Scientific name
Tubificinae
Vejdovský , 1876

The tubeworms (Tubificinae) are a subfamily of the Naididae . They also include the tubifex tubifex, which is bred as an indicator of water quality and as a food animal .

Way of life

The species of mud tube worms live in self-made tubes in the soft sediment , i. H. in the mud or sand of flowing or standing water. Typically only the rear end of the worms looks out of the sediment surface. With undulating movements, they whirl in oxygen-rich water and organic material. In the event of a malfunction, the worms can quickly withdraw into their tunnels. Some species are blood red due to hemoglobin , e.g. B. the Tubifex species.

The mud tubeworms, like most of the few-bristle hermaphrodites. The reproduction therefore takes place in principle via bisexual reproduction, in which the partners can fertilize each other.

In fresh water living species that occur in the mud of rivers or standing water, are Tubifex and Limnodrilus . A mass increase only occurs in bodies of water whose sediments contain a high proportion of usable organic material. In unpolluted waters they tend to occur only sporadically. Some species are used for water quality assessment.

Systematics

The tubeworms (Tubificinae) were the eponymous subfamily of the "Tubificidae" for a long time. After the "Tubificidae" were merged with the species of today's subfamily Naidinae , which were then designated as a separate family , the entire group was named Naididae according to the priority rule.

The subfamily includes around 35 genera, including the genera Limnodrilus , Potamothrix and Tubifex .

literature

  • Heiko Bellmann : Life in brook and pond: Plants and invertebrates in small water bodies. Orbis-Verlag, 2000 ISBN 3-572-01085-3
  • Bruno Wachs: The most common hemoglobin-carrying oligochaetes in Central European inland waters: Bavarian biological research institute, Munich 1966
  • RO Brinkhurst, BM Jamieson: Aquatic Oligochaeta of the world. Oliver & Boyd Publishing House, Edinburgh 1971
  • Heinz Streble , Dieter Krauter : Life in a drop of water. Microflora and microfauna of freshwater. An identification book. 9th, revised and expanded edition. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-440-08431-0 .
  • Wolfgang Engelhardt: What lives in pools, brooks and ponds? Plants and animals in our waters. ISBN 978-3-440-09800-4

Web links