The regeneration capacity of an earthworm, Eisenia fetida, in relation to the site of amputation along the body

• Published in: Acta ecologica Sinica 2011, Vol.31 (4), p.197-204
• Main Authors: Xiao, Nengwen, Ge, Feng, Edwards, Clive A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adults; Amputation; body length; cutting; Earthworm; earthworms; Eisenia fetida; linear models; Regeneration length; Site; Survival rate; tail
• ISSN: 1872-2032; 1872-2032
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chnaes.2011.04.004

It is well known that parts of earthworms can survive if they are cut off. Our aim was to link the regeneration capacity of an earthworm, Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta, Annelida) with the site of the amputation, so we amputated earthworms at different body segment locations along the length of the body to examine the different survival rates and regeneration lengths of the anterior, posterior, and medial sections. The greatest survival rates occurred for earthworms with the most body segments remaining after amputation. The anterior regeneration lengths were of two types. The lengths of regeneration of amputated from body segment 6/7 to further down the body posteriorly increased gradually (Type L I). However, the regeneration lengths of earthworm which were amputated behind the 23rd segment, with less than a quarter of the total segments remaining, did not increase until the blastema and tail bud formation (Type L II). These treatments were not completely regeneration. There were significant differences in both survival rates and lengths of regeneration lengths between immature earthworms and clitellate adult earthworms during the early stages of regeneration, but not at later stages of regeneration. The immature earthworms had a greater regeneration potential than clitellate adults amputated at the same segment. The survival rates of earthworms were correlated significantly with the number of body segments remaining after amputation, but not with the position of the amputation. The relationships between the survival rates and the numbers of remaining segments could be described by linear regressions. The anterior regeneration lengths were correlated with the position of the amputation, but not with the number of remaining segments; the posterior regeneration lengths, were not correlated with the number of segments remaining nor the amputation position. The anterior regeneration length was not related to the survival rates for all earthworm amputations after 30 days but was related in this way after 60 days.