Summary of earthworm regeneration studies at homelab!

SUMMARY OF EARTHWORM REGENERATION STUDIES
HOMELAB PUNE -
→ On oct 6 I got 1 earthworm and kept it in tissue paper cup culture
→ On oct 22 I amputated the earthworm
I cut more than 20 segments from its tail end.
After amputation I got 2 pieces
Long head piece
And short tail piece


[center]earthworm amputated on 22 Oct[/center]


Head piece of earthworm amputated on 22 Oct
The head piece regenerated a tail
But the clitellum disappeared
This earthworm died 89 days after amputation

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TAIL PIECE WITH REGENERATED HEAD
Tail piece of Earthworm amputated on 22 Oct
The tail piece regenerated a new head
But the tail piece disappeared 81 days after amputation


→ On 21 December I amputated 3 earthworms to see whether tail pieces will regenerate or not-

Earthworm-1: ~20 segments from tail end
Earthworm-2: ~ 20 segments from tail end
Earthworm-3: ~30 segments from tail end cut

I was expecting all the 3 head pieces and all 3 tail pieces to regenerate…
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All 3 head pieces regenerated a new tail
[center]__[/center]
→ Out of 3 tail pieces
2 tail pieces could not regenerate and died
Tail piece-1 died 44 days after amputation(3 Feb.)
Tail piece-2 died 37 days after amputation (27 Jan)
Tail piece-3 regenerated a new head* but it died 49 days after amputation (8 Feb.)


[center]Regeneration of tail piece of Earthworm-3[/center]

b=blastema
C=clitellum
h=head
t=tail

I’ve been culturing earthworms at my HOMELAB since October 2021 but i still don’t know their species
please give some suggestions on how to identify earthworms

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What makes earthworm regenerate? Do humans also regenerate? how can we connect earthworm regeneration with humans?

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing.