Kinabalu giant earthworm
Kinabalu giant earthworm | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Annelida |
Class: | Clitellata |
Order: | Opisthopora |
Suborder: | Lumbricina |
Family: | Megascolecidae |
Genus: | Pheretima |
Species: | P. darnleiensis
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Binomial name | |
Pheretima darnleiensis (J. J. Fletcher, 1886)
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The Kinabalu giant earthworm, Pheretima darnleiensis, is a grey-blue coloured peregrine annelid. It is found widely in Southeast Asia, primarily in the Indo-Australasian Archipelago (e.g., Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, the Philippines, some islands near New Guinea such as Darnley Island and Christmas Island), but also in Peninsular Malaysia. Records from the Caroline Islands and Fiji are believed to represent introductions This also applies to the eponymic Darnley Island record.[1]
On Mount Kinabalu, Borneo, the animal grows to a length of approximately 70 cm and lives in burrows in the soft and thick soils around shelter, at an altitude of 3,000 m above sea level. The earthworm's segments are encircled by numerous setae and its skin has a greenish iridescent gloss. Amongst the Kinabalu earthworm's natural predators is another large annelid, the Kinabalu giant red leech. Both animals can only be seen during or after a heavy downpour.[1][2]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Blakemore, R.J.; C. Csuzdi; M.T. Ito; N. Kaneko; T. Kawaguchi; M. Schilthuizen (2007). "Taxonomic status and ecology of Oriental Pheretima darnleiensis (Fletcher, 1886) and other earthworms (Oligochaeta: Megascolecidae) from Mt Kinabalu, Borneo" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1613: 23–44. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1613.1.2.
- ^ Phillipps, A. & 2000. Globetrotter Visitor's Guide – Kinabalu Park. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.
External links[]
- Megascolecidae
- Invertebrates of Borneo
- Invertebrates of Malaysia
- Fauna of Papua New Guinea
- Fauna of the Philippines
- Fauna of Singapore
- Fauna of Bali
- Fauna of Sulawesi
- Fauna of Sumatra
- Animals described in 1886
- Taxa named by Joseph James Fletcher
- Annelid stubs