Annelids Preserved Invertebrates - Niles Biological, Inc.

Leech (Preserved)

Leeches are annelids comprising the subclass Hirudinea. There are freshwater, terrestrial and marine leeches. Like their near relatives, the Oligochaeta, they share the presence of a clitellum. Like earthworms, leeches are hermaphrodites. The medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, which is native to Europe, and its congeners have been used for clinical bloodletting for thousands of years.

All leech species are carnivorous. Some are predatory, feeding on a variety of invertebrates such as worms, snails, insect larvae, crustaceans, while a very few are haemophagic parasitic blood-sucking leeches, feeding on the blood of vertebrates such as amphibians (frogs,reptiles etc.), waterfowl, fish, and mammals. Given the opportunity, they will also feed on human blood. The most important predators on leeches are fish, aquatic insects, crayfish and other leeches specialized for predation on leeches.

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Leeches

Description	Price	Select	Quantity
Leech Preserved (10+) - Each	$ 2.10
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Lumbricus

Lumbricus terrestris is a large reddish worm native to Europe, but now also widely distributed elsewhere around the world (along with several other lumbricids), due to human introductions. In some areas where it has been introduced, it is a serious pest species, out-competing locally native worms.

Through much of Europe it is the largest naturally occurring species of earthworm, typically reaching 20-25cm long when extended (though in parts of southern Europe there are native species which are much larger). It has an unusual habit of copulating on the surface at night, which makes it more visible than most other earthworms.

*Smallest available package size is 5.

Description	Price	Select	Quantity
Lumbricus 9 - 12 inch - Each	$ 0.80
Lumbricus 9 - 12-in. (10+) - Each	$ 0.55
Lumbricus 9 - 12-in. (100+) - Each	$ 0.49
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Nereis (Clam Worm)

The Common clam worm (Nereis succinea) is a widely distributed polychaete worm. It is often referred to as a ragworm or sandworm, or simply as the "clam worm", but these terms can all refer to any one of a number of other species of the genus Nereis (or indeed to other polychaetes). The name "common clam worm" is less ambiguous, but is also sometimes used for other Neries species such as N. virens.

The common clam worm can reach up to 15cm in length, but most specimens are smaller than this. It is brown coloured at the rear, and reddish-brown on the rest of its body. It has an identifiable head with four eyes, two sensory feelers or palps, and eight tentacles.

It is a freeswimming polychaete, scavenging on the bottom of shallow marine waters. It feeds on other worms and algae. To feed, it uses a proboscis, which has two hooks at the end, to grasp prey and draw it into its mouth. Clamworms are an important food source for bottom-feeding fish and crustaceans, though they can protect themselves by secreting a mucus substance that hardens to form a sheath around them.

During lunar phases in the spring and early summer, the clam worm undergoes "heteronenesis". Their parapodia enlarge so they can swim. The clamworms are then capable of releasing eggs and sperm. After they have released their egg or sperm, they die.

Planktonic larvae develop, grow into annelids and eventually sink to the bottom of the water.

Description	Price	Select	Quantity
Nereis (Clam Worm) 10+ - Each	$ 2.16
Nereis (Clam Worm) - Each	$ 2.40
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Preserved Invertebrates >> Annelids

Leech (Preserved)

Lumbricus

Nereis (Clam Worm)