Oligochaeta Definition & Meaning

Origin of Oligochaeta

From New Latin oligo (“few”), from Ancient Greek ὀλίγος (oligos, “few”) + New Latin chaeta (“hair, bristle”), from Ancient Greek χαίτη (chaitē, “hair”).

From Wiktionary

D, Optical section of a branch of organs are present to the number of a single pair per somite, and are commonly present in the majority of the segments of the body, failing often among the Oligochaeta in a varying number of the anterior segments.
These chitinous, rod-like, rarely squat and then hook-like structures are found in the majority of the Chaetopoda, being absent only in certain Archiannelida, most leeches, and a very few Oligochaeta.
This is the typical arrangement, which is exhibited in the majority of the Polychaeta and Oligochaeta; in these the successive chambers of the coelom are separated by the intersegmental septa, sheets of muscle fibres extending from the body wall to the gut and thus forming partitions across the body.
Thus, among the Oligochaeta there are often a series of dorsal pores, or a single head pore, present also among the Polychaeta (in Ammochares).
There are, however, further complications in some forms. Especially are these to be seen in the more modified Oligochaeta and in the much more modified Hirudinea.

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