Published February 19, 2025 | Version v1

Eisenia fetida Savigny 1826

  • 1. Central Department of Zoology, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44618, Nepal

Description

Eisenia fetida Savigny, 1826

Enterion fetidum Savigny, 1826: 182.

Lumbricus semifasciatus Burmeister, 1835: 33.

Helodrilus (Eisenia) foetidus (Savigny) Michaelsen, 1913: 551.

Allolobophora (Eisenia) fetida (Savigny) Stephenson, 1923: 499.

Further synonyms in Blakemore (2012).

Type locality: Paris (42.8566°N, 2.35222°E), France

Distribution in Nepal: Gandaki Province, Kaski District, Phirke Khola-Pokhara; Bagmati Province, Kathmandu (Nesemann et al. 2007) and Macchegaun, Kirtipur (Singh 2022)

Distribution elsewhere: Africa, Asia, and Australia, Bermuda, Europe, India, North America, South America, Russia (Perel 1997; Csuzdi & Zicsi 2003; Reynolds & Fragoso 2004; Narayanan et al. 2023).

Habitat: Moist soil and bottom of the streams, dung, vermicomposting pots, forest, garden, roadside, leaves, logs, compost (Nesemann et al. 2007; Ahmed et al. 2020; Miglani et al. 2022; Singh 2022).

Ecology: Epigeic (Szederjesi 2013; Miglani et al. 2022).

Remarks: Exotic earthworm species widely used in vermicomposting (Najar & Khan 2011; Sankar & Patnaik 2018). Widespread, showing cosmopolitan occurrence (Gates 1972). Probable native range: Caucasus region in Russia (Perel 1997).

Notes

Published as part of Singh, Ankit Kumar & Khanal, Laxman, 2025, Annotated Checklist of the Earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Megadrili) of Nepal, pp. 91-111 in Zootaxa 5589 (1) on page 97, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5589.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/14897397

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Savigny
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Annelida
Order
Crassiclitellata
Family
Lumbricidae
Genus
Eisenia
Species
fetida
Taxon rank
species
Type status
holotype
Taxonomic concept label
Eisenia fetida Savigny, 1826 sec. Singh & Khanal, 2025

References

  • Savigny, J. C. (1826) Analyse d'un Memoire sur les Lombrics par Cuvier. Memoires de l'Academie des sciences de l'Institut de France, 5, 176-184.
  • Burmeister, H. (1835) Zoologischer Hand-Atlas zum Schulgebrauch und Selbstunterricht. Georg Reiner, Berlin, 42 pp.
  • Michaelsen, W. (1913) Die Oligochaten des Kaplandes. Zoologische Jahrbucher, Abteilung fur Systematik, Okologie und Geographieder Tiere, 34, 473-556. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.19897
  • Stephenson, J. (1923) The Fauna of British India- Oligochaeta including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor and Francis, London, 518 pp.
  • Blakemore, R. J. (2012) Cosmopolitan earthworms - an eco-taxonomic guide to the peregrine species of the world. 5 th Edition: VermEcology Solutions, Yokohama, 850 + 350 pp.
  • Nesemann, H., Sharma, S., Sharma, G., Khanal, S. N., Pradhan, B., Shah, D. N. & Shah, R. D. T. (2007) n. k. In: Aquatic invertebrates of the Ganga River System. Chandi Media Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu, pp. 111-162.
  • Singh, A. K. (2022) Earthworm diversity and distribution in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, Central Nepal. International Journal of Applied Science and Biotechnology, 10 (2), 124-133. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v10i2.45105
  • Perel, T. S. (1997) The earthworms of the fauna of Russia. Nauka, Moscow, 97 pp.
  • Csuzdi, C. & Zicsi, A. (2003) Earthworms of Hungary (Annelida: Oligochaeta; Lumbricidae). In: Csuzdi, C. & Mahunka, S. (Eds.), Pedozoologica Hungarica 1. Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, pp. 1-271.
  • Reynolds, J. W. & Fragoso, C. (2004) The earthworms (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae, Eudrilidae, Glossoscolecidae, Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae and Ocnerodrilidae) of Bermuda. Megadrilogica, 10 (4), 17-26.
  • Narayanan, S. P., Paliwal, R., Kurien, V. T., Thomas, A. P. & Julka, J. M. (2023) Earthworms (Clitellata: Moniligastrida, Crassiclitellata) of India: Distribution and Status. Department of Printing and Publishing - Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, 378 pp.
  • Ahmed, S., Julka, J. M. & Kumar, H. (2020) Earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Megadrili) of Solan, a constituent of Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot, India. Travaux du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle " Grigore Antipa ", 63 (1), 19-50. https://doi.org/10.3897/travaux.63.e49099
  • Miglani, R., Ahmed, S., Reynolds, J. W., Parveen, N., Kumar, A. & Bisht, S. S. (2022) A comprehensive checklist of the earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) of Uttarakhand, India. Megadrilogica, 27 (10), 107-133.
  • Szederjesi T. (2013) New earthworm records from the former Yugoslav countries (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae). Opuscula Zoologica Budapest, 44, 61-76.
  • Najar, I. A. & Khan, A. B. (2011) Earthworm communities of Kashmir Valley, India. Tropical Ecology, 52 (2), 151-162.
  • Sankar, A. S. & Patnaik, A. (2018) Impact of soil physico-chemical properties on distribution of earthworm populations across different land use patterns in southern India. The Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology, 79 (1), 50. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41936-018-0066-y
  • Gates, G. E. (1972) Burmese earthworms: An introduction to the systematics and biology of Megadrile Oligochaetes with special reference to Southeast Asia. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 62 (7), 1-326. https://doi.org/10.2307/1006214