Kinabalu giant earthworm

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]

Kinabalu giant earthworm
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Class: Clitellata
Order: Opisthopora
Suborder: Lumbricina
Family: Megascolecidae
Genus: Pheretima
Species:
P. darnleiensis
Binomial name
Pheretima darnleiensis

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
  1. 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.


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