Why Are Worms Slimy?
The word “worm” is a blanket term for several species of animals who have bodies that are long and cylindrical with no legs. Worms also have no eyes, but they can sense light and know whether to move toward or away from it. Technically, animals with this body structure are referred to as non-arthropod invertebrate animals. Most worms are invertebrates, or have no spine, although a few species that are vertebrates are referred to as worms as well.
Worms breathe through their skin. In order for them to do that and in order for them to be healthy, the skin needs to be moist. The layer of slime keeps them moist and keeps them from drying out. If the worm gets too dry, it will die from suffocation.
The slime, or mucus, actually turns into the oxygen that the worm inhales. The mucus is also useful in reproduction. The 32nd to 37th segments of the worm’s body is a segment called the clitellum. It secretes a mucus that quite literally glues two worms together as they mate, and it also secretes the cocoon that an earthworm’s eggs will be born out of.
Baby worms hatch after a few weeks and look exactly like adult earthworms, except for the fact that they are smaller. The cocoon protects the eggs until they hatch. So why are worms slimy? Because it aids in their survival and their reproduction. Without the layer of mucus, worms couldn’t survive or make more worms.
Although they look simplistic, worms are amazingly complex creatures, and play a vital role in the circle of life by improving soil so that plants may grow. Entire ecosystems depend on worms moving vital nutrients to the topsoil. Worms are also useful in fishing, helping fishers catch animals that are used for sustenance.
Why are worms slimy? Worms produce a mucus that enables them to breath; without this, they die due to a lack of oxygen. The slime also plays an important role, if not a particularly glamorous one, in sticking worms together as they mate and reproduce.
The Earthworm
The earthworm is the common worm seen in North America, and has the characteristic slimy surface. Earthworms are members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. They’re present in damp soils in temperate, moderate or warm climates and crawl at the surface of the soil at night, earning them the nickname “nightcrawlers” in some regions.
Most earthworms are six to eleven inches in length and its head end it pointed while its tail end is slightly flat. Worm skin is soft with that layer of slime, and is typically a mix of pink, red and brown. The body is segmented, with each segment being referred to as a somite, and is tubular in shape.
A fascinating fact is that if certain parts of an earthworm’s body is cut off, they will regenerate. Worms can have up to five hearts, and most interestingly, worms have both male and female sex organs. In turn, they produce both sperm and eggs. However, they need a mate to reproduce.
What Do Worms Do?
Earthworms have been extremely useful for humans throughout history. Farmers use worms to help enrich the soil and compost old biological material. This happens because worms eat the dead plant matter and excrete dirt, and in farms they literally turn over the soil, moving nutritious content from lower layers of soil to the top layer being utilized by humans. This makes worms essential in agriculture—in fact, there are up to one million earthworms in just one acre of land. Earthworms are often used as bait in fishing. When fishing, they’ll be placed on the hook so that fish will eat them and in turn, be hooked on the line, allowing the fisher to catch them. Worms are also vital in scientific experiments because of the regeneration abilities.