ANNELIDS

 a large phylum of invertebrate worms

 also known as segmented worms or ringed worms
 parasitic or mutualistic
size: under a millimetre to about 3 meters
body segments - made of one or more rings – annuli (sg. annulus)
hermaphrodites – reproduce sexually
 can regenerate cut off pieces of body
 live mostly in wet environments, have adapted to various ecologies (marine, freshwater, terrestrial
environments)

classification
POLYCHAETA
 bristle worms
 mostly marine species
 each segment has got multiple fleshy protrusions (parapodia), which have many bristles made out of chitin
 (christmas tree worms - Spirobranchus giganteus)
OLIGOCHAETA
 marine, freshwater and terrestrial species
 usually have few bristles on the outer body surface
 (garden earthworm – Lumbricus terrestris)
HIRUDINEA
 marine, freshwater and terrestrial leeches
 carnivorous - feed mainly on meat or blood of other animals, used in medicine
 (medicinal leech – Hirudo medicinalis)

EARTHWORM
External structure:
 fully grown – about 15 cm long, elongated, streamlined shape
 no sense organs or structures sticking out of body
 soft skin, covered in mucus (slime – coelomic fluid)
 body divided into segments by rings
 four pairs of stiff bristles sticking out of each segment - allow earthworm to grip sides of its burrow
 head with mouth at the front end (darker)
 anus at the back end
 clittelum (thick part) about 2/3 way back

anatomy:
BODY CAVITY (inner part, large)
 acts as a skeleton
 contains a watery fluid
 divided into segments by septa (sg. septum) - correspond to the rings

BODY WALL (outer part, surrounds body cavity)

 made out of muscle,
 muscle contraction – movement by bulges
 muscles are divided into two layers – circular muscles (outer layer) and longitudal muscles (inner layer)
 5 systems – nerves, digestion, excretion, respiration and reproduction

reproduction
 hermaphrodites, but they need another individual to reproduce
 2 male openings, 2 sperm receptables - take in the sperm from another individual and a pair of ovaries - eggs
are formed
 Mating – two worms line up and stick together, each facing the opposite direction
nervous system and senses
 nerve cord (beneath the gut – ventral part) – continuous with very small brain (cerebral gangrion) - extreme
front end
 slender nerves go from the nerve cord to muscles in each segment of the body wall
 they don’t have eyes, but they have photosensitive cells

digestion
 eat soil
 pharynx (throat) – breaks down food, swallows
 esophagus – passes soil down the body (contractions)
 crop – a place for storing food
 gizzard – grinds the food up
 intestine – the digested food is absorbed here and transported to the rest of the body by blood vessels - in the
intestinal wall

excretion
METANEPHRIDIA – excretory organs on almost each segment, little tubes that run from the body cavity to the
outside
 they get rid of poisonous nitrogenous waste
 they also get rid of CO2 - diffusion through the surface of their moist skin

respiration
 by diffusion
 it happens all over the earthworm’s moist body surface
 earthworm has got a blood system, in which red blood flows (similar to man’s)
 dorsal blood vessel – the main blood vessel, lies above the gut
 five pumping hearts in front – aortic arches
 ladder circulatory system