Illinois Natural History Survey
Annelid Collection

The INHS Annelida Collection contains over 284,000 specimens (over 6,000 lots, or collections). Approximately 200,000 specimens are permanently mounted on microscope slides; the remaining specimens are stored in alcohol in vials and jars. With the exception of one monospecific class (Acanthobdellida), the collection includes representatives of the other five classes in the Annelida: (1) Aphanoneura (the head-crawling, or suction-feeding worms, including representatives of one family, Aeolosomatidae); (2) Branchiobdellida (the crayfish worms, including representatives of the families Bdellodrilidae, Cambarincolidae, and Xironodrilidae); (3) Hirudinea (the leeches, including representatives of families Hirudinidae, Erpobdellidae, Glossiphoniidae, and Piscicolidae); (4) the Oligochaeta, with representatives of the aquatic microdrile worms (families Enchytraeidae, Haplotaxidae, Lumbriculidae, Naididae, Opistocystidae, and Tubificidae), and the terrestrial megadrile worms (families Acanthodrilidae, Komarekionidae, Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae, and Sparganophilidae); and (5) Polychaeta (sand worms, tube worms, or clam worms - primarily marine) including a few representatives of the families Capitellidae and Sabellidae. The INHS Annelida Collection includes representatives of many worm species that have limited known distributions in North America. There are no annelids occurring in Illinois that currently are listed as endangered or threatened by either the federal government or by the State of Illinois, or under consideration for such listing.

The geographic scope of the INHS Annelida Collection is about 74% from Illinois; 25% from elsewhere in North America (collections from the states of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and from the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario); and 1% from other countries, including the Bahamas, Ecuador, India, Jamaica, Peru, and Sweden.

Annelid Collection Staff

  • Mark J. Wetzel, Curator/Manager

    Annelid Related Publications at the INHS

    Our Publications Catalog can be used to search for annelid-related material published at this Survey.

  • Go to the Scientific Collections Page.
  • Go to the CBD General Info. Page .
  • Go to the Center for Biodiversity.

    Illinois Natural History Survey

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