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
[center]
[/center]
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…
[center]__[/center]
[left]
[/left]
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