The COELOMIC FLUID EXTRACTION AND COELOMOCYTES COUNT IN DIFFERENT EPIGEIC EARTHWORMS

The cavity of earthworm is filled with transparent fluid called coelomic fluid which is derived from the mesenchymal lining, exhibits a wide variety of biological activities. The coleomic fluid consists of various cells and many biomolecular components involved in innate immunity. This study aims to highlight the use of various standard methods for the extraction of coelomic fluid and also to calculate the differential coelomocytes count of three epigeic earthworm species such as Eudrilus eugeniae (EE), Eisenia fetida (EF) and Perioynx excavatus (PE). In present study, cold shock method was used for extraction of coelomic fluid from different epigeic earthworm species as it is more advantages than the other methods, especially for earthworms. During the study, four different kinds of coelomocytes were witnessed such as amoebocytes, chloragogen cells, mucocytes and circular cells. The total coelomocytes count was somewhat equal in allthree species with no significant difference, whereas a significant difference was noticed in differential count of coelomocytes i.e. Among all the coelomocytes amoebocytes, chloragogen cell and mucocytes were more in EE (56.33±0.33, 37.00±0.57 and 3.66±0.33) followed by PE (31.00±0.57, 16.33±0.33 and 2.00±0.57) and less in EF (24.00±0.32, 8.00±0.21 and 2.00±0.33) whereas circular cells were more in EF ( 66.00±0.57) followed by PE (50.66±0.33) and less in EE (2.66±0.33).