ANNELIDS

WORMS AND LEECHES

Annelids are creeping or burrowing invertebrates with long, slender soft bodies and no limbs. They include leeches, worms and similar creatures.

Potworms Enchytraeida are tiny worms that live in soil and under logs. They eat organic debris helping to aerate the soil.

Horse Leeches Haemopis sanguisuga have colouration that ranges from brown-black to bottle-green. This freshwater creature found in lakes, ponds and slow-moving streams, grows up to 10cm long (longer with body extended). Its common name is due to it bearing a similarity to Limnatis nilotica which enters the nasal cavities of horses when drink from ponds, an activity that this species does not do.