Re: [Killietalk] Grindal worm biology?

[George Slusarczuk <yurko at warwick_net>]

Hello Matt,

What passes in the hobby as "Grindal worms" are many different critters!

Over the years I have had three distinctly different worms -- all 
labeled "Grindal" -- that differed in behavior in and out of water, 
food, & speed of reproduction.

Another "worm" that I cultured for a while was in size between Micro 
and Grindal, about 3/16" long. It reproduced exceedingly fast on 
oatmeal. I lost it because I did not harvest/subculture often enough & 
they crashed.

The "true" Grindal was identified as Enchytraeus buchholzi (Vejdovsky) 
by a Dr. Schulz  in Kiel (Germany) sometimes in the 1950's. The white 
worm is Enchytraeus albidus Henle. In the last 50 years they might have 
been renamed.

Hope this helps.

Best,

George

P.S. How do you like living in WA?



On Nov 21, 2005, at 1:12 PM, matt kaufman wrote:

> Anyone got a good pointer to grindal worm biology? I've observed some 
> interesting feeding behaviors (I think) with a new culture, but they 
> only make sense if the grindal worms are a nematode. Are they? Are 
> they annelids? Are there (my guess) both nematode 'Grindal Worms' and 
> annelid "Grindal Worms" circulating in the hobby? Anyone know what the 
> original ones were?
>
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