The Lumbricidae are a family of earthworms. About 33 lumbricid species have become naturalized around the world, but the bulk of the species are in the Holarctic region: from Canada and the United States and throughout Eurasia to Japan. An enigmatic species in Tasmania is Eophila eti. Currently, 670 valid species and subspecies in about 42 genera are recognized. This family includes the majority of earthworm species well known in Europe and Asia.
Oligochaeta is a subclass of soft-bodied animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadrile earthworms, and freshwater or semiterrestrial microdrile forms, including the tubificids, pot worms and ice worms (Enchytraeidae), blackworms (Lumbriculidae) and several interstitial marine worms.
Megascolecidae is a family of earthworms native to Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and North America. At up to 2 meters in length, their large size distinguishes the Megascolecidae from other earthworm families. They are an essential part of maintaining soil structure, minor carbon sequestration, and maintaining terrestrial ecosystems.
Enchytraeidae is a family of microdrile oligochaetes. They resemble small earthworms and include both terrestrial species known as potworms that live in highly organic terrestrial environments, as well as some that are marine. The peculiar genus Mesenchytraeus is known as "ice worms", as they spend the majority of their lives within glaciers, only rising to the surface at certain points in the summer. Enchytraeidae also includes the Grindal worm, which is commercially bred as aquarium fish food.
The Clitellata are a class of annelid worms, characterized by having a clitellum – the 'collar' that forms a reproductive cocoon during part of their life cycles. The clitellates comprise around 8,000 species. Unlike the class of Polychaeta, they do not have parapodia and their heads are less developed.
Oscar Rudolph Neumann was a German ornithologist and naturalist who explored and collected specimens in Africa. He fled via Cuba and settled in the United States to escape Nazi persecution of Jews. Neumann's starling and several other species are named after him.
Maria Koepcke was a German ornithologist known for her work with Neotropical bird species. Koepcke was a well-respected authority in South American ornithology and her work is still referenced today. For her efforts, she is commemorated in the scientific names of four Peruvian bird species and, along with her husband, a Peruvian lizard species.
Frank Evers Beddard FRS FRSE was an English zoologist. He became a leading authority on annelids, including earthworms. He won the Linnean Medal in 1916 for his book on oligochaetes.
The Acanthodrilidae are an ancient and widely distributed family of earthworms which has native representatives in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America, and North America. No native species are known from India nor Asia. The family possibly shows a pre-Pangaean distribution.
The European nightcrawler is a medium-small earthworm averaging about 1.5 g when fully grown. Generally blueish, pink-grey in color with a banded or striped appearance, the tips of their tails are often cream or pale yellow. When the species has not been feeding, it is pale pink. The species is usually found in deep woodland litter and garden soils that are rich in organic matter in European countries. D. hortensis is sold primarily as a bait worm, but its popularity as a composting worm is increasing.
Rhinodrilus fafner is a presumed extinct giant earthworm of the family Glossoscolecidae. It is only known by the badly preserved holotype discovered in 1912 near Belo Horizonte in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and described in 1918 by German zoologist Wilhelm Michaelsen (1860–1937) from the National History Museum in Hamburg. The collected individual has is 210 cm, 24 mm in diameter and consists of 600 segments. Along with Amynthas mekongianus and Megascolides australis, Rhinodrilus fafner is among the largest known giant earthworms. Rhinodrilus fafner was confined to a small habitat and vanished possibly due to habitat destruction. It was officially declared extinct by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment (MMA) in 2003. However, the rediscoveries of the Giant Palouse earthworm in 2005 and the Brazilian earthworm Fimoscolex sporadochaetus in 2007 created hope that Rhinodrilus fafner may be found again.
Microchaetus rappi, the African Giant Earthworm, is a large earthworm in the family Microchaetidae, the largest of the segmented worms. It averages about 1.4 meters in length, but can reach a length of as much as 6.7 meters and can weigh over 1.5 kilograms.
Gustavus Augustus Eisen was a Swedish-American polymath. He became a member of California Academy of Sciences in 1874 and a Life Member in 1883. In 1893, he became the 'Curator of Archaeology, Ethnology, and Lower Animals' at the academy. He later changed titles to 'Curator of Marine Invertebrates'. In 1938, he was appointed as an 'Honorary Member', which is considered the highest honor from the academy.
Gordon Enoch Gates was an American zoologist. He is known for his taxonomic work on the Oligochaeta and for being a "world authority" on the subject. He published in his field for nearly 60 years.
Samuel James is an American scientist, a researcher specializing in evolutionary biology, focusing on earthworm taxonomy. James, with fellow researchers, has discovered numerous species of annelids, including Diplocardia californiana, Diplocardia woodi, Diplocardia montana, and a new species related to the Giant Palouse earthworm.
John Stephenson CIE FRS FRSE FRCS was a surgeon and zoologist. He was a leading expert on the earthworms of the Indian subcontinent and served as editor of the Fauna of British India series from 1927. Knowledgeable in Persian, Hindustani and some Arabic, he was also an orientalist scholar and translated several works from Persian to English.
Moniligastridae is a family of earthworms native to South and Eastern Asia, containing around 200 species and five genera.
Karm Narayan Bahl was an Indian zoologist who studied earthworms, their nephridial morphology, and excretion. He served as a professor of zoology at Lucknow University. He founded a series of memoirs on model animals of Indian origin for the purposes of teaching zoology in India.
Polypheretima is a genus of annelid earthworms belonging to the family Megascolecidae, erected by Wilhelm Michaelsen in 1934. Species have been recorded mostly from Africa and Asia, with several apparently very locally endemic.
Komarekiona eatoni, or the Kentucky earthworm, is a terrestrial species of nearctic Annelid found in the southwestern United States, especially near the Appalachian Mountains. Komarekionidae is one of the few endemic Megadrile families in North America north of Mexico.
