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5. Observations on the Structure of Lumbricus complanatus, Dugès

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

Frank E. Beddard
Frank E. Beddard
Affiliation:
Prosector to the Zoological Society of London.
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Extract

A very considerable number of earthworms have been referred to the genus Lumbricus, and its immediate allies Dendrobœna, Allolobophora, &c, which have in reality no marked affinities with any of these genera. Such are, for example, Lumbricus corethrurus of Fritz Müller, which Perrier has shown to belong to a distinct generic type described by him under the name of Urochœta, and Lumbricus microchœta of Rapp, which is also the type of a new genus, widely differing from Lumbricus proper. On the other hand, a very large number of species have been referred to the latter genus, concerning which there is little or no knowledge, so that it is impossible to speak with any certainty as to their exact systematic position.

Type
Proceedings 1885-86
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 13 , 1886 , pp. 451 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1886

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References

note * page 452 Annales d. Sciences Nat., t. xv. (1828), p. 286, pls viii., ix.

note * page 453 Loc. cit., p. 327.

note * page 454 Loc. cit, t. xv. pl. ix. fig. 25

note * page 455 Tom. cit.,. ix. fig. 1.

note * page 458 Proc. Zool. Soc, 1885, p. 829.

† Nouv. Arch. d. Mus., t. viii. p. 111.

note * page 459 This is not, however, invariably the case. In some individuals the spermathecæ are, as in the present species, placed near to the posterior wall of the segment which contains them; in other individuals, possibly different species, the spermatheca, as in the majority of earthworms, is placed nearer to the anterior wall of the segment This may prove to be a difference of specific importance. I find that this variation exists in the figures of other observers. Lankester (Quart. Jour. Micr. Sci., 1865) figures the two spermathecæ as lying by the anterior wall of their segments (9 and 10), and opening in the groove between each of those segments and the one in front. On the other hand, Hering (Zeitsch. f. Wiss. Zool., 1857) states that the spermathecæ are situated in 9 and 10, and open between 9–10 and 10–11. D'Udekem (Mem. Cour. d. l. Acad. roy. de Brux., 1856) figures and describes a disposition of the spermathecæ identical with that observed by Hering.

Note added May 15, 1886.—A paper by Dr Rosa, “I lumbricidi del Pie-monte,” which I had overlooked in writing the above, has come into my hands through the kindness of the author. L. eomplanatus is described in this paper under the name of Allolobophora complanata; the author, however, does not mention the diverticula of the spermathecæ, nor is there any indication of them in his figure; if the presence of these should ultimately prove to be a specific character, I would propose to name my species Lumbricus (Allolophora) rosæ, after the Italian naturalist. I notice also that in this paper the position of the spermathecæ in the anterior or posterior region of the segment is used as a specific character. The specimen described in the present paper shows how the change of position of the spermathecæ is brought about.