3/9/2000

The Cincinnati Post

Scientists are researching whether a giant earthworm found two years ago in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a new species.

Matthew Slaughter found the worm in July 1988 while clearing brush along the Appalachian Trail.

It had rained that weekend, and the ground was soaked. The work crew - all members of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club - was making its way along the trail when Slaughter looked down and spied a pale pink earthworm that was 18 inches long.

While the park had received several reports that summer of giant earthworms, Slaughter was the first person to bring a specimen down from the mountains for scientific scrutiny.

At first, researchers weren't sure if the worm was a new species or simply a gigantic version of a known species of earthworm.

One specialist in earthworm taxonomy says he's 95 percent sure the earthworm is a new species previously unknown to science.

Volunteers have found four new specimens, all at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, said Becky Nichols, a biologist with the Great Smoky Mountains Park.

With spring rains approaching, Nichols hopes trail volunteers will soon capture an adult specimen that will definitively confirm the new species.