摘要：The lumbricidae have no respiratory system, their breathing is done through the skin which is highly vascularized witch is kept moist by its very existence, by skin glands and then if necessary by removing the coelomic fluid through the dorsal pores. This process of breathing is specific to earthworms which are said to have a high degree of adaptation to specific conditions. The present study aims to determine the breathing intensity in different species of lumbricidae in various stages of development. The species analyzed were: Allolobophora chlorotica (adult), Aporrectodea rosea rosea (adult), a Dendrobaena alpina (adult), Dendrobaena alpina (juvenile), Aporrectodea rosea rosea (juvenile), Octolasion lacteum (adult), Octolasion lacteum (juvenile). It was observed that the breathing rhythm of the animals ranged from 0.0029 to 0.0968 μm CO2/g/s both interspecifically and intraspecifically. Comparing the individual biomass with the CO2 quantity recorded by each of the species, we found no relationship between biomass and breathing. There was some indication that discontinuous patterns, irrespective of whether the animal is active or at rest, contributed to the variability of respiration rates. To reduce such sources of variability it is recommended to standardize the environmental conditions during the measurements as far as possible and to choose measurement periods long enough to detect differences in the respiration pattern.
