Kinabalu giant earthworm

Species of annelid

Kinabalu giant earthworm

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Annelida
Clade:  | Pleistoannelida
Clade:  | Sedentaria
Class:  | Clitellata
Order:  | Opisthopora
Family:  | Megascolecidae
Genus:  | Pheretima
Species:  |

P. darnleiensis

Binomial name
Pheretima darnleiensis

(J. J. Fletcher, 1886)

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 Paka Cave 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

[edit]

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ Phillipps, A. & F. Liew 2000\. Globetrotter Visitor's Guide – Kinabalu Park. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.

## External links

[edit]

* The giant leech and giant worm in Kinabalu Park, Borneo, Malaysia

Taxon identifiers

Pheretima darnleiensis|

* Wikidata: Q6676689
* EoL: 20399023
* GBIF: 7696813
* iNaturalist: 557108
* ITIS: 978644

This annelid-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template