Eisenia andrei
| Eisenia andrei | |
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| Species: | E. andrei
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| Binomial name | |
| Eisenia andrei Bouché, 1972 [1]
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Eisenia andrei is a close relative of the 'brandling' or 'tiger' worm Eisenia fetida. Like its sibling species, it is epigeic, i.e. it prefers to live in compost or leaf litter rather than mineral soils.
It can be distinguished from E. fetida as it is darker in colour, and the characteristic stripes are less pronounced. Although its status as a separate species was fully confirmed in the mid-1980s by molecular analyses (based on electrophoresis of protein isoforms), E. andrei is still often misidentified and confused with E. fetida[2]. The muscles of the Eisenia andrei embryos appear in groups of at least two distinct muscles that cross the ventral midline and initially reach towards the lateral side of the embryo. The mitochondrial genetic characteristics of the Irish population of E. fetida could be the result of reproductive isolation and so suggests that this sample may constitute an unrecognized species or subspecies of E. fetida[3][4].
References
- ^ "Eisenia andrei". Fauna Europaea. 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
- ^ Voua Otomo, L., Voua Otomo, P., Bezuidenhout, C.C. & Maboeta, M.S. 2013. Molecular assessment of commercial and laboratory stocks of Eisenia spp. (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) from South Africa. African Invertebrates 54 (2): 499–511.[1]
- ^ Pérez-Losada, Marcos; Eiroa, Julio; Mato, Salustiano; Dominguez, Jorge. "Phylogenetic species delimitation of the earthworms Eisenia fetida(Savigny, 1826) and Eisenia andrei Bouche ́, 1972 (Oligochaeta,Lumbricidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences". sciencedirect.com/. ScienceDirect. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ Hunnekuhl, Vera S.; Bergter, Annette; Purschke, Gunter; Paululat, Achim. "Development and Embryonic Pattern of Body Wall Musculature in the Crassiclitellate Eisenia andrei(Annelida, Clitellata)". Wiley Online Library. Retrieved 25 March 2021.