Aprocean-1

 tardibabe

The forbidden gummy worms

Here are black worms I found in my mountain pond sample! I put them under polarized light to make them glow as if they were in rave 😂 They’re mainly found in North America and Europe in freshwater ponds, lakes and marshes especially in shallow water in sediments or decaying leaves. They’re known to be decomposers as they feed on organic matter but they also nom on microbes!

Black worms belong to the annelid worm group and more precisely the oligochaete worms, just as earthworms! Oligochaete worms are segmented animals, meaning that their body is made of small repetitive units and all of them possess a pair of primitive kidneys and components of circulatory and nervous system. Primitive kidneys are essential to remove wastes from blood and the body cavity. The different segments also bear a pair of bristles, called setae, which are use to anchor the worm when moving around. But to move around so easily by crawling on surfaces also means muscles are needed! Circular and longitudinal muscles are here to help these worms to lengthen and contract all of their segments to be able to stretch forward and eat all of the food!

The vascular system of these worms is composed of one dorsal and one ventral blood vessel that goes from one end to the other. The blood is pumped by the dorsal blood vessel but also by modified transverse vessels located at the front of the worm and acting as muscular hearts! I’ll make another video where we can actually see the red blood being pumped 🩸

Most aquatic oligochaete worms possess dissolved red blood pigments called erythrocruorin that are responsible for oxygen transport all over the body in different tissues. For oxygen to enter blood vessels, it first needs to diffuse inside the worm through their thin skin. Erythrocruorin pigments are sometimes called giant hemoglobin although their affinity for oxygen is a bit weaker than most hemoglobine!

Soundtrack is a courtesy of @tondal_ 🐛

Video taken with my iPhone mounted on a BA310E Motic microscope with an @ilabcam adapter 🔬