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The Annelid Collection at the Illinois Natural History Survey is likely the largest state collection of freshwater oligochaetes in the United States, with 350,000 specimens (over 7,000 lots or collections). About 225,000 specimens are permanently mounted on microscope slides, while the rest are stored in alcohol in vials and jars.

With the exception of one monospecific order — Acanthobdellida (the bristle worms, confined to the boreal regions of the Arctic) — the collection includes representatives from other groups within the phylum Annelida:

• Branchiobdellida (one family, Branchiobdellidae — the crayfish worms, including members of the subfamilies Bdellodrilinae, Cambarincolinae, and Xironodrilinae)
• Hirudinida (the leeches, including members of five of the six families known to occur in North America — Haemopidae, Hirudinidae, Erpobdellidae, Glossiphoniidae, and Piscicolidae)
• Oligochaetous Clitellata (“Oligochaeta”), including representatives of aquatic microdrile oligochaete worms (families Enchytraeidae, Haplotaxidae, Lumbriculidae, Naididae — now including the subfamilies of the former family Tubificidae — and from the former family Opistocystidae), as well as Pristinidae, and the terrestrial megadrile oligochaetes — earthworms (families Acanthodrilidae, Glossoscolecidae, Komarekionidae, Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae, and Sparganophilidae)
• Polychaeta (sand worms, tube worms, or clam worms — primarily marine), including a few representatives of the families Capitellidae and Sabellidae
• Aeolosomatida (one family, Aeolosomatidae — worms that crawl with their heads or feed by suction)

The INHS Annelid Collection includes specimens of many worm species with limited known distributions in North America; however, none of the annelids known or believed to occur in Illinois is listed as endangered or threatened by either the federal government or the State of Illinois, nor are any currently being considered for such listing.

In addition, the INHS Annelid Collection serves as a primary source of identified and verified aquatic oligochaete specimens for the Society for Freshwater Science Taxonomic Certification Program, educational institutions, and other government, nonprofit organizations, private agencies and companies, members of other professional scientific societies, and other professional oligochaetologists in the U.S., Canada, and other countries. Records of specimens in the INHS Annelid Collection have been cited in numerous publications focusing on the distribution of species and systematic studies.

The INHS Annelid Collection has long served as a repository for non-annelid, worm-like invertebrates, including non-parasitic flatworms (Phylum Platyhelminthes, Class Turbellaria), horsehair worms (Phylum Nematomorpha), and roundworms (Phylum Nematoda). Most specimens in these groups are awaiting identification.