Searching for earthworm species in Chaloos city

Despite earthworms are important organisms in a stand of biomass and action in the soil, few studies have been done to identify their species in Iran. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify the species of earthworms in Chalus, Iran. Clitellate earthworms collected by digging from 15 stations consist of: under logs and stones, under the bark of dead trees, under moss on rocks and trees, in rotten trees and wet soil. Then collected earthworm specimens anesthetized, killed and fixed by 15% and 75%ethanol and 4% formalin, respectively. Finally, species were identified using morphological characteristics and common keys. The following ten species belonging to seven genera and two families were identified: Aporrectodea caliginosa, Aporrectodea trapezoides, Aporrectodea rosea, Aporrectodea jassyensis, Dendrobaena byblica, Dendrobaena hortensis, Dendrobaena veneta, Eisenia fetida, Perelia kaznakovi and Amynthas cortices. The results showed that the studied area have good diversity which can be attributed to the existence of various habitat conditions

Keywords:

Earthworm , Soil , Taxonomy , Chaloos