Abstract
Summary Gilberto Righi together with other taxonomists described the earthworm fauna of Amazonia in what is still a very limited number of sites. The Guayana Shield, North of the Amazon river and East of the Orinoco, comprises the largest extent of pristine forest on earth. One hundred and five species distributed among 36 genera have been recorded in this area. Eighty seven species were found in only one of the five large areas where some sampling had occurred which led us to estimate that the earthworm fauna of Amazonia probably comprises over 2000 species. Only 10 peregrine species, all exotic except for Pontoscolex corethrurus , were found in most regions where they colonise disturbed areas and tend to eliminate native species. Tentative estimates of the local-to-regional values of species richness for a few invertebrate groups show that earthworms have by far the lowest rates. It is, therefore, likely that deforestation of large areas results in the elimination of many species since the rate of endemism is extremely high in earthworms.
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