Annelida: Reproduction

Reproduction is sexual or asexual. Asexual reproduction is by fragmentation, budding, or fission. Among sexually reproducing annelids hermaphrodites are common, but most species have separate sexes. Fertilized eggs of marine annelids usually develop into free-swimming larvae. Eggs of terrestrial forms are enclosed in cocoons and hatch as miniature versions of the adults. The ability to regenerate lost body parts is highly developed in many polychaetes and digochaetes.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Leech Reproduction
• Leech Predation and Digestion
• Leech Anatomy
• Class Hirudinea
• Oligochaete Reproduction
• Oligochaete Circulation and Respiration
• Oligochaete Digestion
• Oligochaete Anatomy
• Class Oligochaeta
• Archiannelida and Myzostomaria
• Polychaete Reproduction
• Polychaete Anatomy
• Sedentary Polychaetes
• Errant Polychaetes
• Class Polychaeta
• Reproduction
• The Nervous System
• Respiration
• Circulation
• Digestion
• The Body Wall
• Segmented Bodies
• Bibliography

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