Suborder (Animalia): Crassiclitellata

Earthworm, suborder Crassiclitellata, cohort Terrimegadrili (excerpt from)

Introduction
Like insects, earthworms are among the animals most frequently encountered by many Floridians. Our kids play with them (Figure 2), dissect them in middle school biology, we fish with them; they crawl across our sidewalks and live in our flower pots. Despite this, their ecological and economic importance often goes unrecognized. Earthworms have several important ecological roles. Additionally, some species are used commercially for bait, animal feed, environmental remediation, and composting.

The term earthworm is commonly assigned to certain worms in the class Clitellata in the phylum Annelida. Annelid worms are distinguished from other important worms like nematodes by having a coelum or true body cavity, a circulatory system, and a body divided into segments. Other familiar annelids are the Hirudinea (leeches), the Polychaeta (marine bristleworms), and the Enchytraeids (potworms). Within the order Opisthopora there are both aquatic and terrestrial species. We will use earthworm exclusively for terrestrial worms in the suborder Crassiclitellata.

Distribution
There are thousands of described species of earthworms and likely many thousands more that are yet to be described. Individual species are found in most habitats worldwide. Different earthworm species are found in natural, agricultural, and urban environments; as of the mid 1990s there were 51 earthworm species reported in Florida. The two most widely distributed wild earthworms in Florida are Amynthas corticis and A. gracilis. Some species such as Diplocardia floridana and D. mississippiensis are known to occur only in the northern portion of the state. South Florida is the only location in the United States where some tropical earthworm species such as Metaphire posthuma are found. Some earthworm species are unique to Florida, including Diplocardia alba gravida, which has only been reported in Charlotte, De Soto, and Sarasota Counties, and D. vaili, which has only been found in Liberty County. The most commonly cultivated earthworms in Florida are the tiger worm (Eisenia fetida), the red wiggler (E. andrei), and one type of nightcrawler (Dendrobaena veneta).

Reference: University of Florida IFAS Extension (link to complete article)