Morphology

Lampito mauritii has a long, narrow, cylindrical body that is bilaterally symmetrical, typically 80 to 210 mm long and 3.5 to 5 mm wide, light brown in colour with a purplish tinge towards the front caused by a respiratory pigment called porphyrin. A large number of external grooves divide the body into roughly 165 to 190 ring-like segments, or metameres. A dark mid-dorsal line along the back marks the position of the dorsal blood vessel just beneath the skin. The first segment carries the mouth (the peristomium), overhung by a small flap called the prostomium, while the last segment carries the anus (the pygidium). In sexually mature worms, segments 14 to 17 are swollen and glandular, forming the clitellum, which divides the body into a pre-clitellar, clitellar and post-clitellar region and later secretes the cocoon. Every segment except the first, last and clitellar ones bears a ring of small, S-shaped chitinous setae used in locomotion. Other extern …