''Sparganophilus'', the only genus in the family Sparganophilidae, is a group of long, slender, limicolous (mud-dwelling)

earthworm An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they we ...

s native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The number of species is unknown, most of them are undescribed, throughout the continent and into

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. One species, ''S. tamesis'', has been introduced into the streams of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, where it is now widespread; its synonyms are ''S. eiseni'', ''S. benhami'', ''S. guatemalensis'', ''S. carnea'', ''S. elongatus'', ''S. cuenoti'' and, newly, ''S. langi''.Cosmopolitan Earthworms (Blakemore, 2008)
''Sparganophilus'' species are characterised by a simple gut with no gizzard and no

typhlosole In Morphology (biology), biological morphology, a typhlosole is an internal fold of the Gut (anatomy), intestine or intestine inner wall. Typhlosoles occur in bivalve mollusks, lampreys and some annelids and echinoderms. In earthworms, it is a d ...

. They are true earthworms, having a complex vascular system with capillaries and having the male pores far behind the female pores. They were at one time placed in the earthworm family

Glossoscolecidae The Glossoscolecidae are a large family of earthworms (annelids) which has native representatives in South and Central America. The species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of th ...

, but at present are considered to constitute their own family. ''Sparganophilus'' species are commonly found in mud next to rivers and streams. They feed in the low oxygen mud and organic material, but with their highly vascularized posterior region on or near the surface. ''Sparganophilus'' has no accepted common name.

References

Haplotaxida {{annelid-stub