I know my answer is not very helpful now the species identity has been confirmed (nor very academic either) , but I find this to be one of the most beautiful and striking earthworm species in Europe! It could be really helpful for public awareness of earthworm diversity and conservation as a "flagship" species. In case there is no vernacular name for this beauty, it should certainly be Emerald Earthworm. 

Yes it is Ap. smaragdina. There is no similar worm in that area.

thanks Csaba, the latter remark makes it more easier the next time.

I am not so competent in earthworms.

• Amazing colouration! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

I know my answer is not very helpful now the species identity has been confirmed (nor very academic either) , but I find this to be one of the most beautiful and striking earthworm species in Europe! It could be really helpful for public awareness of earthworm diversity and conservation as a "flagship" species. In case there is no vernacular name for this beauty, it should certainly be Emerald Earthworm. 

Daniel: I agree with your opinion, it is a beautifull creature and most of all easy to identify and therefore very usefull in public awareness ! Although it is not indigenous for The Netherlands, me and my colleague have given it a Dutch name already "smaragd regenworm" which can be translated into "emerald earthworm" !

Yes, sure. Nomen est omen :)

What a shame we don't have this beauty in Ireland :( The poetic name for Ireland is "The Emerald Isle".

beautiful, as always :)

I made a map for an upcoming publication and included this observation :)

www.tinyurl.com/Asmaragdina

let my know what you think about!

(it is not final...)

Thank you for this! I can inform you that we have a second observation. When I showed these photos to our son (age 8), he immediately replied that he has also seen this species, at a school excursion near Postojna last year. He found one under bark of a dead tree. His description matches and I believe him, even though he was 7 years at the time. He is an excellent observer :) Unfortunately, we have no photographs or other, better documentation for this new finding. You can include it under his name, Lars Veenvliet.

I placed a request for observations on my facebook site, you never know what comes up. My FB site is followed by quite some Slovenian naturalists.

Edit: we got this reply already: Živa Fišer Pečnikar I have seen it many years ago, while turning stones along the road Bovec - Čezsoča. No photos unfortunately, but two other biologists as witnesses (likely 2001)

And, back then I already got this reply: Tisa Novak I found two like this few years ago in the woods near Trbovlje (Slovenia)! (date: 2014)

Thank you very much, Paul :)

I've added your observations and two more from SLO from iNaturalist!

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/559092

Further, there are many records from other balkan countries, they will come when I have more time ;)

There are some more here, I'll add years, when I get the data:

Plitvice, Croatia, Marko Doboš (2016)

Sveta Trojica, this is a part of the Javorniki mountain ridge, roughly between Pivka and Cerknica, Slovenia, Metka Škrlj Manojlović, 2018

Krumperk near Domžale, Slovenia, Rok Debeljak, (2018)

Bohinj, Slovenia, Polona Matjan, probably 2018

Bavšica, Triglav National Park, Vid Naglič, 2017

Istrian peninsula, Croatia, Dragica Dorgu Šalamun, undated

Kožjanski park (if you can't find it, search for Podsreda), Slovenia, Danijela Kodrnja, 2018

Osilnici, Slovenia, Helena Fortuna Jelenc, around 2000

Podgora, Gorenja vas, Slovenia, Eva Mur, 2014

Some of these data are accompanied with photographs. This is the response so far on my facebook message from today! p.s. for the personal names it may be good to know that Slovenians have usually only a single first name. Women often use a double family name, one part of which is their husbands. So it should be Fišer Pečnikar, Ž.

p.s. we should do the same for European landleaches ...

Photograph from Rok Debeljak, a mating pair (& a single specimen). Data in my previous mail.

Paul Veenvliet when you give me your email-adress (as personal message), I can add you as editor of the map :) It will take me some time to add these observations, as I have some deadlines.

Just let me know!

Best, Michael

Thesis with an overview of Croatian data:

https://repozitorij.biologija.unios.hr/islandora/object/bioos:122/preview

I've included all the personal observations from you Paul, but these are missing:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279305548

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264742850

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264742764

the thesis is hard to read (to me), "mali hrvatska" :D

Still, I will give it a try!

Hi, our publication has now an available full-text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328383296

Despite it is in German, I hope you like it ;)

Hi, it's me again. I've updated my map and we have a new observation from Austria, Zillertal (Central Alps). I did some research: there should not be any limestone there, but a small stripe of limestone close to Finkenberg and Mayrhofen can be found, and there they found the green worms! I would say, very interesting :)

http://www.natopia-projekte.at/naturpark-zillertaler-alpen-31-mai-bis-3-juni-2018-wald/