Post #13919

The Mystery of the Earthworm's Belt: Why does it need a jumper on its body? A long time ago, when you were a child, you fell in love with earthworms. Have you noticed that they all have strange belts. You asked your parents, but they could not tell you the secret of the girdle of worm. Decades have passed since then. The situation itself was forgotten a long time ago, disappeared under a mountain of more recent memories, stuffed cones and life skills. But then you saw the title of the article, and something childish stirred again there, in the depths of your soul. It seems it's time to find out the answer to a very old question. The girdle, scientifically called the clitellum, is a unique organ found only in leeches and earthworms. At first glance, it looks very simple, like a huge slimy, giant gland that does nothing. But this is only at first glance. The importance and complexity of this organ is evidenced by a simple fact: if it is cut, the worm is guaranteed to die. He is able to restore the intestines, excretory organs, peripheral nerves and other nonsense from scratch, but he is not even able to fuse the girdle. Because the clitellum plays a key role in the regeneration of earthworms. In the inner part of the girdle, reserves of germ cells are stored that can migrate to the site of damage and turn into new tissue. It also produces translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), which controls the growth and regeneration of tissues and prevents their degeneration into tumors. Damage the belt and all magic will disappear, the worm's regeneration will drop to human levels. And, given its small size, any injury will be fatal to the worm. But, oddly enough, regeneration is a secondary function. The basic task of the girdle is reproduction. When an earthworm is ready to mate, its clitellum swells and changes color: from pale pink to orange or even red. This is where the exocrine glands come into play, which have an important task. When a pair of worms exchange genetic material - and worms are hermaphrodites, the animals fertilize each other during the mating process (photo 4) - the clitellum produces a cocoon in which the worm will lay its eggs. As soon as the laying is completed and the cocoon becomes airtight, it will be filled with nutritious mucus, which the newborns will feed on (photo 5). 1.5-2 weeks after laying, they break the cocoon built around the girdle and set off for an independent life. Therefore, the myth that if you cut a worm in half, both parts will live is truly a myth. Only the part where the clitellum is located will survive! And even then, if it is the front part of the worm with all the other main organs. And if the cut is on the clitellum itself, then not a single part will survive. - - - - - We have a huge group, which is 11 years old and there are many zoologists who write tons of text every day from the field in which they are specialists. Due to VK’s failed policy towards authors, all this, unfo