''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 Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...

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 Electrophoresis, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, "amber") and φόρησις (phórēsis, "the act of bearing"), is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric fie ...

of protein isoforms), ''E. andrei'' is still often misidentified and confused with '' E. fetida''. 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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3700630 Lumbricidae Animals described in 1972