Eudrilidae

Eudrilid earthworms are African earthworms with one species, "Eudrilus eugeniae" (Kinberg, 1867), widely distributed around the warmer parts of the world and cultured as the "African Night Crawler". The male pores of eudrilids are in segment 17, as is also typical of Ocnerodrilidae. Eudrilids differ from the family Megascolecidae and Acanthodrilidae in having euprostates, i.e., a muscular and possibly glandular development of the vasa deferentia (male ducts from testes) that open to the male pores. Eudrilids further differ from megascolecids, and ocnerodrilids in the development of internal fertilization with the equivalent of the spermathecae opening directly to the ovisacs alowing sperm to combine with the eggs from the ovaries via a female opening in segment 14.

Bibliography

*Sims, R.W. 1967. Earthworms (Acanthodrilidae and Eudrilidae) from Gambia. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History 16: 1-43.
*Zicsi, A. 1997. Contribution to the knowledge to the earthworm fauna of East Afrika (Oligochaeta: Eudrilidae), with description of a new species of Polytoreutus. Revue Suisse de Zoologie. Dec. 104
*Blakemore, R. 2007. "Vermicology I – Ecological considerations of the earthworms used in vermiculture – a review of the species" from presentations at the "Vermillennium" conference held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, September 16-22, 2000. [Online http://bio-eco.eis.ynu.ac.jp/eng/database/earthworm/Vermillennium%202000%5CVermicology%20I.pdf] ."']