Biodiversity & Conservation

An oligochaete - Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri - General information

An oligochaete

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Distribution map

Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Georgina Budd Text page icon Refereed by:

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Annelida Segmented worms e.g. ragworms, tubeworms & fanworms
Class Clitellata Earthworms, pot worms and leeches
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Widely distributed around Britain and Ireland. The species is probably under recorded by surveys but reported in the upper Thames, Severn and Forth estuaries, and on the Norfolk coast east of Blyford.
Habitat information icon Habitat information It has a wide ecological range and inhabits cohesive muds in all types of waters including polluted, but it cannot tolerate oxygen deficiency. Although a freshwater species it is found further seaward than any other freshwater aquatic oligochaete species and is found in habitats likely to be exposed to very low salt levels, e.g. upper estuaries where interstitial salinity is less than 5 psu.
Text page icon Description Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri is a small, thin worm about 20-35 mm in length. It has a simple conical shaped head, that lacks eyespots, and a long cylindrical body of numerous segments (55-95). The segments have on each side an upper and lower bundle of bristles (setae), that are able to move and are used for burrowing in sediment. The worm may appear red in colour, owing to the possession of the respiratory pigment haemoglobin. Like all other oligochaetes, the species is a hermaphrodite, with a complex reproductive system.

This review can be cited as follows:

Georgina Budd 2003. Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri. An oligochaete. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3687>