The spinal cord begins at the occipital bone and extends down to the space between the first and second lumbar vertebrae; it does not extend the entire length of the vertebral column.
Earthworms are invertebrates, lacking a skeleton. To support and shape the body, they are filled with coelomic fluid. Earthworms sometimes appear to have a belt or saddle around their bodies; this is a clitelum, a structure containing maturing eggs.
The first body segment (segment number 1) features both the earthworm's mouth and, overhanging the mouth, a fleshy lobe called the prostomium, which seals the entrance when the worm is at rest, but is also used to feel and chemically sense the worm's surroundings.