Eisenia andrei

Taxobox | name = "Eisenia andrei"


image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Annelida
classis = Clitellata
ordo = Haplotaxida
familia = Lumbricidae
genus = "Eisenia"
species = "E. andrei"
binomial = "Eisenia andrei"
binomial_authority = Bouché, 1972 [cite web |url=http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=178399 |title="Eisenia andrei" |publisher=Fauna Europaea |year=2007|accessdate = 2008-07-07] "Eisenia andrei" is a close relative of the 'brandling' or 'tiger' worm, "Eisenia fetida". Like its sibling species, it is epigeic, i.e. it prefers to live in compost or leaf litter rather than mineral soils.

It can be distinguished from "E. fetida" as it is darker in colour, and the characteristic stripes are less pronounced. However its status as a separate species was only fully confirmed in the mid-1980s by molecular analyses (based on electrophoresis of protein isoforms).

References