Octochaetus multiporus
species of annelid
Octochaetus multiporus, commonly known as the New Zealand earthworm, is a megascolecid worm endemic to New Zealand. It is mainly found in the south of Manawatu but may also be found along the east coast of the South Island. A bioluminescent worm, Octochaetus multiporus secretes a luminescent fluid from its mouth when disturbed or punctured.
Taxonomy
The New Zealand earthworm was first described by Frank Evers Beddard in 1885 and originally named Acanthodrilus multiporus. It is the type-species and type-genus of Octochaetidae, a family of earthworms mainly confined to the Australasian region, with the long anticipated "missing-link" between octochaetids in New Zealand and India found recently with Octochaetus ambrosensis (Blakemore, 1997) and its allied taxa in Australia.
Description
Octochaetus multiporus is pale pink in colour, with a translucent body wall and a purple streak that runs along the top midline of the body. The clitellum (a glandular section on the wall of the body, which holds eggs) and length are also unique to the worm and help with identification as it can grow up to 300 millimetres (12 in) and can get a diameter of 10 millimetres (0.4 in). The New Zealand Earthworm has clitella on 14-19th segments, which can extend and overlap onto the 13 and 20th segments (Lee 1959). The New Zealand Earthworm has strong muscles in the anterior and posterior for burrowing but a weak body. The majority of the earthworm's muscles are present in the anterior and the posterior of the body (head and anus) as this allows for optimum burrowing ability.
The public source identifies “Octochaetus multiporus” as species of annelid. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Octochaetus, multiporus and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5143204. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1885, 1997 and 1959.
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This entry incorporates text from “Octochaetus multiporus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.