Vejdovsky, 1891
Description
Medium-sized smooth pink worms. Ventral and dorsal chaetae similar as bifid crotchets only, with slightly longer upper tooth in anterior segments. Posterior crotchets with shorter and thinner upper tooth, lower one being stout and curved. No modified genital chaetae; ordinary bifid crotchets present in ventral bundles of X and XI. Clitellum in XI-XII, spermathecal pores laterally in middle portion of X. Length and segment number not defined but evidently similar to those of Tubifex tubifex, as are internal anatomical characters. Often regarded as an ecological form of Tubifex tubifex (e. g., Chapman and Brinkhurst, 1987). However, genetical isolation from it was proved recently, at least in some populations (Paoletti Di Chiara et al., 1999).
Burrowing in sediment.
Distribution
Europe, North Africa.
Ecology
In freshwater, particularly in arid regions, rare.
Reproduction
Sexual only. Eggs laid in cocoons.
Literature
Vejdovsky, 1891: 596-603; Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971: 454-456; Chapman and Brinkhurst, 1987: 52-55, Fig. 3; Paoletti Di Chiara et al., 1999: 83-86.