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Mekong Worm
''Amynthas mekongianus'', the Mekong worm or Mekong giant earthworm, previously known as ''Megascolex mekongianus'', is a species of earthworm in the family Megascolecidae. It is native to the vicinity of the River Mekong in southeastern Asia and may have more than 500 segments and grow to a length of . Description The Mekong giant earthworm may grow to a length of up to . Compared to their great length, these worms are relatively slender. The type specimen was one metre long and wide at the broadest point (segment 5). It had 370 segments and was a greyish colour, rather paler on the ventral surface. The prostomium was poorly preserved. The second segment had 46 setae (bristles) in an incomplete ring with a gap on the ventral surface. Segments 3 to 25 bore about 100 setae each, arranged in a complete ring. The male pores were on segment 17, but this specimen was immature and lacked a clitellum. Distribution and habitat The type specimen was recorded as being from "Ban Leum on M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earthworm
An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. They occur worldwide where soil, water, and temperature allow. Earthworms are commonly found in soil, eating a wide variety of organic matter. This organic matter includes plant matter, living protozoa, rotifers, nematodes, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. An earthworm's digestive system runs the length of its body. An earthworm respires (breathes) through its skin. It has a double transport system made of coelomic fluid that moves within the fluid-filled coelom and a simple, closed circulatory system. It has a central and peripheral nervous system. Its central nervous system consists of two ganglia above the mouth, one on either side, connected to a nerve running along its length to motor neurons and sensory cells in each s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megascolecidae
The Megascolecidae is a taxonomic family of earthworms which is native to Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand and both South East Asia and North America. All species of Megascolecidae belong to the Clitellata class. Megascolecidae are a large family of earthworms and they can grow up to 2 meters in length. The intercontinental distribution of Megascolecidae helps in favouring the Continental Drift theory.Reynolds, J.W. 1995. The distribution of earthworms (Annelida, Oligochaeta) in North America. Pp. 133- 153 In: Mishra, P.C., N. Behera, B.K. Senapati and B.C. Guru (eds.). Advances in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 651 pp. The distinctive feature that differs Megascolecidae from other earthworm families is their large size in comparison with other earthworm families. They are an essential part of maintaining soil structure, minor carbon sequestration, and maintaining terrestrial ecosystem balance. Megascolecidae is one of many families Anne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between western China and Southeast Asia. Names The Mekong was originally called ''Mae Nam Khong'' from a contracted form of Tai language, Tai shortened to ''Mae Khong''. In Thai and Lao, ''Mae Nam'' ("Mother of Water[s]") is used for large rivers and ''Khong'' is the proper name referred to as "River Khong". However, ''Khong'' is an archaic word meaning "river", loaned from Austroasiatic languages, such as Vietnamese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prostomium
The prostomium (From Ancient Greek, meaning "before the mouth"; plural: prostomia; sometimes also called the "acron") is the cephalized first body segment in an annelid worm's body at the anterior end. It is in front of (but does not include) the mouth, being usually a small shelf- or lip-like extension over the dorsal side of the mouth. The prostomium together with the peristomium, which includes the mouth and pharynx, make up the annelid head. Description The prostomium is part of the head and holds at least part of the brain and often bears sensory structures such as the eyes, antennae and palps. It may function like a kind of overlip when the animal is feeding. The prostomium bears many important taxonomic characters and its shape and composition are important for annelid systematics. In addition to the eyes, antennae and palps, the prostomium can possess appendages such as tentacles or cirri. Moreover, some polychaete prostomia have a posterior extension or ridge with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seta
In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. They help, for example, earthworms to attach to the surface and prevent backsliding during peristaltic motion. These hairs make it difficult to pull a worm straight from the ground. Setae in oligochaetes (a group including earthworms) are largely composed of chitin. They are classified according to the limb to which they are attached; for instance, notosetae are attached to notopodia; neurosetae to neuropodia. Crustaceans have mechano- and chemosensory setae. Setae are especially present on the mouthparts of crustaceans and can also be found on grooming limbs. In some cases, setae are modified into scale like structures. Setae on the legs of krill and other small crustaceans help them to gather phytoplankton. It captures them and allows th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clitellum
The clitellum is a thickened glandular and non-segmented section of the body wall near the head in earthworms and leeches, that secretes a viscid sac in which eggs are stored. It is located near the anterior end of the body, between the fourteenth and seventeenth segments. The number of the segments to where the clitellum begins and the number of segments that make up the clitellum are important for identifying earthworms. In microdrile earthworms, the clitellum has only one layer, resulting in a smaller quantity of eggs than that of the megadrile earthworms, which have larger multi-layered clitellum that have special cells that secrete albumin into the worms' egg sac. The clitellum is part of the reproductive system of clitellates, a subgroup of annelids which contains oligochaetes (earthworms) and hirudineans (leeches). The clitellum is a thick, saddle-like ring found in the epidermis (skin) of the worm, usually with a light-colored pigment. To form a cocoon for its eggs, the cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th century to the 18th century as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into three separate kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vermicompost
Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. This process is called vermicomposting, while the rearing of worms for this purpose is called vermiculture. Vermicast (also called worm castings, worm humus, worm manure, or worm faeces) is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms. These excreta have been shown to contain reduced levels of contaminants and a higher saturation of nutrients than the organic materials before vermicomposting. Vermicompost contains water-soluble nutrients and is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.Coyne, Kelly and Erik Knutzen. ''The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City.'' Port Townsend: Process Self Reliance Series, 2008. It is used in gardening and su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animals Described In 1922
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from to . They have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in Bilateria, a clade whose members have a bilaterally symmetric body plan. The Bilateria include the protostomes, containing animals such as nematodes, arthropods, flatworms, annelids and molluscs, and the deuterostomes, containing the echinoderms an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
