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Red wigglers and compost worms are prolific breeders and under the right conditions can double their population size every 3-4 months through mating. This means that over the course of a single year 1,000 earthworms (around 1lb) can reproduce to a size of 12,000 to 16,000 worms!

So how do earthworms mate and reproduce babies? Do earthworms lay eggs? Is there a mother and a father for each baby worm? Or does a single worm do all the work by itself?

Let's dive in for a closer look at the wonderful (and active!) sex life of earthworms.

How Do Worms Reproduce - The Short Answer

It takes two to tango - most worm species like red wigglers and European Nightcrawlers require a partner to breed and reproduce.
Earthworms start the reproduction process by laying upside down next to one another and joining their head areas in a tight embrace.

Each worm secretes sperm into tiny storage sacs of their partner.

The worms then untangle and self-secrete a fluid that hardens and becomes the cocoon.

This cocoon rolls off the worm's head, and fertilization occurs when it passes over the ovaries and sperm storage sacs.

From these cocoons tiny worms will hatch anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks or longer based on conditions.

How Do Earthworms Reproduce - The Details

Earthworms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, which means they have both male (testes) and female (ovaries) reproductive organs. Both of these sexual organs are used when earthworms join and mate during the reproductive cycle.

One really cool outcome of the earthworm reproduction organs and cycle is that an earthworm can be the genetic mother of some of its offspring and the genetic father of other baby worms.

So, what are the details behind how worms have babies? As mentioned above, the earthworm reproduction process starts with worms laying upside down next to one another and forming a tight embrace.

During this embrace a few things happen. First the worms both produce mucus to form a "tube" for their sperm. Once enough mucus has been secreted, the worms ejaculate sperm into the tube where it travels to the other worm's sperm sac.

This mating process takes 18-24 hours. When finished, the worm mating is done but the reproductive process continues as the worms still have work to do on their own.

The clitellum, the thick ring band of tissue around a worm's neck, secretes more mucus that hardens into a cocoon and begins to travel up the worm's neck. As the clitellum passes over the ovaries, eggs stick to the mucus.

The cocoon then passes over the sperm sac, where sperm comes into contact with the eggs and fertilization occurs.

As the final step in the earthworm reproduction process, the cocoon completely rolls off of the worm's heads, seals, and begins the incubation phase before baby worms are born.

Under the right conditions, worm cocoons will hatch in 10-20 days and 2-15 worms (usually 2-3) will hatch from each cocoon. These baby worms are tiny, around 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length (for red wiggler and compost worms) with a whitish/translucent color.

Each baby worm will reach sexual maturity in 60-90 days, where it will being the process of finding a mate and starting the reproductive cycle on its own.

How Do Worms Get Pregnant

Worms aren't technically impregnated in the same way humans are. During the earthworm reproduction process, assuming it works correctly (which it does most of the time thanks to evolution!), both worms exchange seminal fluid and produce cocoons.

After a few weeks the cocoons roll off of the worm's head into the surrounding soil and the baby worms grow inside the cocoons before hatching.

This worm breeding cycle is a highly efficient process that allows worms to reproduce at high levels in a short amount of time. Just think how fast the human population would reproduce if both parents produced offspring during the reproduction cycle!

How Fast Do Worms Reproduce?

Red wigglers, European nightcrawlers, and other earthworm species reproduce very quickly. The entire reproduction process from mating to cocoon hatching is 3-4 weeks and can be as fast as 10-12 days:

Day 1: Worms mate and begin the reproduction process.

Day 3-6: Cocoons are fertilized and roll off of the worm's head.

Day 10-20: Cocoons hatch

Day 70-100: Baby worms reach sexual maturity and begin the breeding process on their own.

How Often Do Worms Reproduce

Under normal to optimal conditions, worms can mate and reproduce a cocoon every week. Assuming 2 baby worms are hatched per cocoon, a single worm can produce over 100 offspring per year.

However, worms will limit their breeding if temperature, moisture, food, or worm density (too many or too few worms in the area) are not optimal, so conditions in your worm bin need to be monitored closely to attain optimal reproductive success!

FAQS - How Do Worms Reproduce?

How do Earthworms Have Babies?

Earthworms mate by laying next to one another and exchanging eggs and fluid. Each earthworm then produces a cocoon around their neck. This cocoon hardens and rolls off the tip of the worm's head. The cocoon hatches a few weeks later and from each cocoon 1-15 baby worms can be hatched.

Do Earthworms Reproduce by Fragmentation?

Red wiggler and compost worms reproduce sexually with mates, but some worm species (e.g., flatworms) reproduce asexually through a process called fragmentation (where a worm reproduces by splitting into fragments).

How Do Earthworms Reproduce Sexually or Asexually?

Most worm species reproduce sexually through mating process that requires 2 worms exchanging seminal fluid and fertilizing eggs that produce 1-15 baby worms hatched from a cocoon.

Do Earthworms Get Pregnant?

Not in the sense that humans do - earthworms mate and produce cocoons that hatch baby worms (so the babies are not carried to term in their parent's bodies).

Do Earthworms Reproduce by Laying Eggs?

Yes - earthworms reproduce by fertilizing eggs that roll off their heads and hatch in the soil or worm compost bin.

How Long Do Earthworms Live?

Most estimates on earthworm life span range from 2-8 years. Worms are sexually active for most of their life.

Do Worms Lay Eggs?

Yes - most earthworm species, especially those in North America, reproduce through a mating process that results in cocoons that baby worms hatch from. It generally takes several weeks after the mating process has completed for baby worms to hatch from the egg cocoons.

Interested in learning more about earthworms and worm composing? Check out other popular articles on our worm composting blog:

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How Do Worms Reproduce - Everything to Know About the Prolific Red Wiggler Breeding Process (with Photos!)

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Red wigglers and compost worms are prolific breeders and under the right conditions can double their population size every 3-4 months through mating. So how exactly do they breed - with eggs or impregnation? On their own or with a partner?.....

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Shrey: Person 3- Skeletal and Nervous Systems

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Shrey: Person 3- Skeletal and Nervous Systems

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Andrea: Earthworms do not have lungs. They breathe through their skin. Oxygen and carbon dioxide pass through the earthworm’s skin by diffusion. For diffusion to occur, the earthworm’s skin must be kept moist. Body fluid and mucous is released to keep its skin moist. Earthworms therefore, need to be in damp or moist soil. This is one reason why they usually surface at night when it is possibly cooler and the “evaporating potential of the air is low.”

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Andrea: Earthworms do not have lungs. They breathe through their skin. Oxygen and carbon dioxide pass through the earthworm’s skin by diffusion. For diffusion to occur, the earthworm’s skin must be kept moist. Body fluid and mucous is released to keep its skin moist. Earthworms therefore, need to be in damp or moist soil. This is one reason why they usually surface at night when it is possibly cooler and the “evaporating potential of the air is low.”

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Worms produce sexually, they go through meiosis, and they originated from Ikaria Wariootia.

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Lumbricus terrestris, an earthworm

White tentacles of Loimia medusa, a spaghetti worm

Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always).

Worms vary in size from microscopic to over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length for marine polychaete worms (bristle worms); 6.7 metres (22 ft) for the African giant earthworm, Microchaetus rappi; and 58 metres (190 ft) for the marine nemertean worm (bootlace worm), Lineus longissimus. Various types of worm occupy a small variety of parasitic niches, living inside the bodies of other animals. Free-living worm species do not live on land but instead live in marine or freshwater environments or underground by burrowing.

In biology, "worm" refers to an obsolete taxon, , used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non- arthropod invertebrate animals, now seen to be paraphyletic. The name stems from the Old English word . Most animals called "worms" are invertebrates, but the term is also used for the amphibian caecilians and the slowworm , a legless burrowing lizard. Invertebrate animals commonly called "worms" include annelids ( earthworms and marine polychaete or bristle worms), nematodes ( roundworms), platyhelminthes ( flatworms), marine nemertean worms (" bootlace worms"), marine Chaetognatha ( arrow worms), priapulid worms, and insect larvae such as grubs and maggots.

Worms may also be called helminths-particularly in medical terminology-when referring to parasitic worms, especially the Nematoda (roundworms) and Cestoda (tapeworms) which reside in the intestines of their host. When an animal or human is said to "have worms", it means that it is infested with parasitic worms, typically roundworms or tapeworms. Lungworm is also a common parasitic worm found in various animal species such as fish and cats.

Paragordius tricuspidatus, a nematomorphan

Pseudoceros dimidiatus, a flatworm

In taxonomy, "worm" refers to an obsolete grouping, , used by Carl Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non- arthropod invertebrate animals, now seen to be polyphyletic. In 1758, Linnaeus created the first hierarchical classification in his Systema Naturae. In his original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, while his Insecta (which included the crustaceans and arachnids) and Vermes have been renamed or broken up. The process was begun in 1793 by Lamarck, who called the Vermes une espèce de chaos (a sort of chaos) and split the group into three new phyla, worms, echinoderms, and polyps (which contained corals and jellyfish). By 1809, in his Philosophie Zoologique, Lamarck had created 9 phyla apart from vertebrates (where he still had 4 phyla: mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish) and molluscs, namely cirripedes, annelids, crustaceans, arachnids, insects, worms, radiates, polyps, and infusorians. Chordates are remarkably wormlike by ancestry.

Informal grouping

In the 13th century, worms were recognized in Europe as part of the category of reptiles that consisted of a miscellany of egg-laying creatures, including "snakes, various fantastic monsters, lizards, assorted amphibians", as recorded by Vincent of Beauvais in his Mirror of Nature. In everyday language, the term worm is also applied to various other living forms such as larvae, insects, millipedes, centipedes, shipworms (teredo worms), or even some vertebrates (creatures with a backbone) such as blindworms and caecilians. Worms include several groups. The three main phyla are:

Platyhelminthes, includes the flatworms, tapeworms, and flukes. They have a flat, ribbon- or leaf-shaped body with a pair of eyes at the front. Some are parasites.

Nematoda, contains the threadworms, roundworms, and hookworms. Threadworms may be microscopic, such as the vinegar eelworm, or more than 1-metre (3 feet) long. They are found in damp earth, moss, decaying substances, fresh water, or salt water. Some roundworms are also parasites: the Guinea worm, for example, gets under the skin of the feet and legs of people living in tropical countries.

Annelida, consists of the segmented worms, with bodies divided into segments or rings. Among these worms are the earthworms and the bristle worms of the sea.

Familiar worms include the earthworms, members of phylum Annelida. Other invertebrate groups may be called worms, especially colloquially. In particular, many unrelated insect larvae are called "worms", such as the railroad worm, woodworm, glowworm, bloodworm, butterworm, inchworm, mealworm, silkworm, and woolly bear worm.

Worms may also be called helminths, particularly in medical terminology when referring to parasitic worms, especially the Nematoda (roundworms) and Cestoda (tapeworms). Hence, " helminthology" is the study of parasitic worms. When a human or an animal, such as a dog or horse, is said to "have worms", it means that it is infested with parasitic worms, typically roundworms or tapeworms. Deworming is a method to kill off the worms that have infected a human or animal by giving anthelmintic drugs.

" Ringworm" is not a worm at all, but a skin fungus.

Lobopodians are an informal grouping of extinct panarthropods from the Cambrian to the Carboniferous that are often called worms or "worm-like animals" despite having had legs in the form of stubby lobopods. Likewise, the extant Onychophora are sometimes called velvet worms despite possessing stubby legs.

Society and culture

was the Old English term for carnivorous reptiles ("serpents") and mythical dragons. "Worm" has also been used as a pejorative epithet to describe a cowardly, weak or pitiable person.

Worms can also be farmed for the production of nutrient-rich vermicompost.

References

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Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length for marine polychaete worms (bristle worms); 6.7 metres (22 ft) for the African giant earthworm, Microchaetus rappi ; and 58 metres (190 ft) for the marine nemertean worm (bootlace worm), Lineus longissimus .

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The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program

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Human evolution

Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.

One of the earliest defining human traits, bipedalism -- the ability to walk on two legs -- evolved over 4 million years ago. Other important human characteristics -- such as a large and complex brain, the ability to make and use tools, and the capacity for language -- developed more recently. Many advanced traits -- including complex symbolic expression, art, and elaborate cultural diversity -- emerged mainly during the past 100,000 years.

Humans are primates. Physical and genetic similarities show that the modern human species, Homo sapiens, has a very close relationship to another group of primate species, the apes. Humans and the great apes (large apes) of Africa -- chimpanzees (including bonobos, or so-called "pygmy chimpanzees") and gorillas -- share a common ancestor that lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa.

Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species of early humans. Scientists do not all agree, however, about how these species are related or which ones simply died out. Many early human species -- certainly the majority of them - left no living descendants. Scientists also debate over how to identify and classify particular species of early humans, and about what factors influenced the evolution and extinction of each species.

Early humans first migrated out of Africa into Asia probably between 2 million and 1.8 million years ago. They entered Europe somewhat later, between 1.5 million and 1 million years. Species of modern humans populated many parts of the world much later. For instance, people first came to Australia probably within the past 60,000 years and to the Americas within the past 30,000 years or so. The beginnings of agriculture and the rise of the first civilizations occurred within the past 12,000 years.

Paleoanthropology

Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution. Paleoanthropology is a subfield of anthropology, the study of human culture, society, and biology. The field involves an understanding of the similarities and differences between humans and other species in their genes, body form, physiology, and behavior. Paleoanthropologists search for the roots of human physical traits and behavior. They seek to discover how evolution has shaped the potentials, tendencies, and limitations of all people. For many people, paleoanthropology is an exciting scientific field because it investigates the origin, over millions of years, of the universal and defining traits of our species. However, some people find the concept of human evolution troubling because it can seem not to fit with religious and other traditional beliefs about how people, other living things, and the world came to be. Nevertheless, many people have come to reconcile their beliefs with the scientific evidence.

Early human fossils and archeological remains offer the most important clues about this ancient past. These remains include bones, tools and any other evidence (such as footprints, evidence of hearths, or butchery marks on animal bones) left by earlier people. Usually, the remains were buried and preserved naturally. They are then found either on the surface (exposed by rain, rivers, and wind erosion) or by digging in the ground. By studying fossilized bones, scientists learn about the physical appearance of earlier humans and how it changed. Bone size, shape, and markings left by muscles tell us how those predecessors moved around, held tools, and how the size of their brains changed over a long time. Archeological evidence refers to the things earlier people made and the places where scientists find them. By studying this type of evidence, archeologists can understand how early humans made and used tools and lived in their environments.

The process of evolution

The process of evolution involves a series of natural changes that cause species (populations of different organisms) to arise, adapt to the environment, and become extinct. All species or organisms have originated through the process of biological evolution. In animals that reproduce sexually, including humans, the term species refers to a group whose adult members regularly interbreed, resulting in fertile offspring -- that is, offspring themselves capable of reproducing. Scientists classify each species with a unique, two-part scientific name. In this system, modern humans are classified as Homo sapiens.

Evolution occurs when there is change in the genetic material -- the chemical molecule, DNA -- which is inherited from the parents, and especially in the proportions of different genes in a population. Genes represent the segments of DNA that provide the chemical code for producing proteins. Information contained in the DNA can change by a process known as mutation. The way particular genes are expressed - that is, how they influence the body or behavior of an organism -- can also change. Genes affect how the body and behavior of an organism develop during its life, and this is why genetically inherited characteristics can influence the likelihood of an organism's survival and reproduction.

Evolution does not change any single individual. Instead, it changes the inherited means of growth and development that typify a population (a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular habitat). Parents pass adaptive genetic changes to their offspring, and ultimately these changes become common throughout a population. As a result, the offspring inherit those genetic characteristics that enhance their chances of survival and ability to give birth, which may work well until the environment changes. Over time, genetic change can alter a species' overall way of life, such as what it eats, how it grows, and where it can live. Human evolution took place as new genetic variations in early ancestor populations favored new abilities to adapt to environmental change and so altered the human way of life.

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Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.

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They breathe through their skin. Air dissolves on the mucus of their skin, so they MUST stay moist to breathe. If worms dry out, they suffocate. As fresh air is taken in through the skin, oxygen is drawn into the worm's circulatory system, and the worm's hearts pump the oxygenated blood to the head area.

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human respiratory system, the system in humans that takes up oxygen and expels carbon dioxide.

The design of the respiratory system

The human gas-exchanging organ, the lung, is located in the thorax, where its delicate tissues are protected by the bony and muscular thoracic cage. The lung provides the tissues of the human body with a continuous flow of oxygen and clears the blood of the gaseous waste product, carbon dioxide. Atmospheric air is pumped in and out regularly through a system of pipes, called conducting airways, which join the gas-exchange region with the outside of the body. The airways can be divided into upper and lower airway systems. The transition between the two systems is located where the pathways of the respiratory and digestive systems cross, just at the top of the larynx.

The upper airway system comprises the nose and the paranasal cavities (or sinuses), the pharynx (or throat), and partly also the oral cavity, since it may be used for breathing. The lower airway system consists of the larynx, the trachea, the stem bronchi, and all the airways ramifying intensively within the lungs, such as the intrapulmonary bronchi, the bronchioles, and the alveolar ducts. For respiration, the collaboration of other organ systems is clearly essential. The diaphragm, as the main respiratory muscle, and the intercostal muscles of the chest wall play an essential role by generating, under the control of the central nervous system, the pumping action on the lung. The muscles expand and contract the internal space of the thorax, the bony framework of which is formed by the ribs and the thoracic vertebrae. The contribution of the lung and chest wall (ribs and muscles) to respiration is described below in The mechanics of breathing. The blood, as a carrier for the gases, and the circulatory system (i.e., the heart and the blood vessels) are mandatory elements of a working respiratory system ( see blood; cardiovascular system).

Morphology of the upper airways

The nose is the external protuberance of an internal space, the nasal cavity. It is subdivided into a left and right canal by a thin medial cartilaginous and bony wall, the nasal septum. Each canal opens to the face by a nostril and into the pharynx by the choana. The floor of the nasal cavity is formed by the palate, which also forms the roof of the oral cavity. The complex shape of the nasal cavity is due to projections of bony ridges, the superior, middle, and inferior turbinate bones (or conchae), from the lateral wall. The passageways thus formed below each ridge are called the superior, middle, and inferior nasal meatuses.

Characteristics of the Human Body

On each side, the intranasal space communicates with a series of neighbouring air-filled cavities within the skull (the paranasal sinuses) and also, via the nasolacrimal duct, with the lacrimal apparatus in the corner of the eye. The duct drains the lacrimal fluid into the nasal cavity. This fact explains why nasal respiration can be rapidly impaired or even impeded during weeping: the lacrimal fluid is not only overflowing into tears, it is also flooding the nasal cavity.

The paranasal sinuses are sets of paired single or multiple cavities of variable size. Most of their development takes place after birth, and they reach their final size toward age 20. The sinuses are located in four different skull bones-the maxilla, the frontal, the ethmoid, and the sphenoid bones. Correspondingly, they are called the maxillary sinus, which is the largest cavity; the frontal sinus; the ethmoid sinuses; and the sphenoid sinus, which is located in the upper posterior wall of the nasal cavity. The sinuses have two principal functions: because they are filled with air, they help keep the weight of the skull within reasonable limits, and they serve as resonance chambers for the human voice.

The nasal cavity with its adjacent spaces is lined by a respiratory mucosa. Typically, the mucosa of the nose contains mucus-secreting glands and venous plexuses; its top cell layer, the epithelium, consists principally of two cell types, ciliated and secreting cells. This structural design reflects the particular ancillary functions of the nose and of the upper airways in general with respect to respiration. They clean, moisten, and warm the inspired air, preparing it for intimate contact with the delicate tissues of the gas-exchange area. During expiration through the nose, the air is dried and cooled, a process that saves water and energy.

Two regions of the nasal cavity have a different lining. The vestibule, at the entrance of the nose, is lined by skin that bears short thick hairs called vibrissae. In the roof of the nose, the olfactory bulb with its sensory epithelium checks the quality of the inspired air. About two dozen olfactory nerves convey the sensation of smell from the olfactory cells through the bony roof of the nasal cavity to the central nervous system.

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Human respiratory system | Description, Parts, Function, & Facts

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Human respiratory system, the system in humans that takes up oxygen and expels carbon dioxide. The major organs of the respiratory system include the nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, lungs, and diaphragm. Learn about the anatomy and function of the respiratory system in this article.

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how worms grow

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Earthworm: movement - hydrostatic skeleton

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Nervous system of Earthworm - Online Biology Notes

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Do earthworms have nervous system? Earthworm has a well-developed nervous system. The nervous system is metamerically segmented. The nervous system is divisible into central, peripheral [...]

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The hydrostatic skeleton of earthworms is divided into segments. In all soft-bodied animals, the hydrostatic skeleton is a sort of skeletal structure. A fluid-supported skeleton is known as a hydrostatic skeleton. The hydrostatic skeleton of earthworms is segmented.

There are no images of a hydrostatic ske

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Nervous system of a human vs. worm nervous system

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Nervous system of a human vs. worm nervous system

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Nervous system - Annelids, Reflexes, Sensory

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Nervous system - Annelids, Reflexes, Sensory: The brain of most annelids (phylum Annelida; segmented worms, including the leeches and terrestrial earthworms) is relatively simple in structure. The earthworm brain is a bilobed mass lying above the pharynx in the third body segment. Sensory nerves leave the brain and run forward into the prostomium (extreme anterior end) and first segment. The brain of the active, predatory polychaetes (a class of marine worms) is more complicated. In some the brain can be divided into a forebrain, a midbrain, and a hindbrain; a single pair of circumesophageal or circumpharyngeal connectives leave the brain, surround the anterior gut, and connect

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Human skeletal system vs. Worm skeletal system

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Human skeletal system vs. Worm skeletal system

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Muscles work by contracting or either by relaxing to make us move. Our muscles are attached to the bones and when the flexor contracts it makes us able to bend a limb or joint.

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The circulatory system is made up of blood vessels that carry blood away from and towards the heart. Arteries carry blood away from the heart and veins carry blood back to the heart. The circulatory system carries oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to cells, and removes waste products, like carbon dioxide.

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For earth worms to move they decrease the diameter but stretch the length of the earthworm's body when contracted.

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This is my video of worm muscular system.

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longitudinal muscles that run the length of the body and circular muscles that form circular bands around the body.

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Reproductive organs are present on 9th to 15th segments.

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Wonderful worms talks about how the muscular system of a worm works