Criodrilidae Vejdovský, 1884

The Palearctic family Criodrilidae includes mainly aquatic species in a single genus, Criodrilus with two valid species, C. lacuum from Europe, and C. ghianae Qiu & Bouché, from Mediterranean Algeria. The former species, may be among the longest living of earthworms, known to achieve 46 years of age when kept in aquaria (Timm 2020). The species is widely distributed in Europe and common all around the Mediterranean, with its northernmost distribution in Latvia (Smiljkov et al. 2005; Blakemore 2008b; Atanacković et al. 2013; Valchovski 2013; Mısırlıoğlu 2017; Timm 2020). Outside its native range, C. lacuum has only been reported from potted plants in Baltimore (USA) (McKey-Fender & MacNab 1953). Previous reports of this species from Brazil (Knäpper 1976; Knäpper & Porto 1979) actually refer to G. camaqua, a species of Almidae (see above, and Ferreira et al. 2023).