The relationships between the 13 most common species of Por tuguese earthworms and 20 soil characteristics have been investi gated by analysis of ecological profiles, correspondence analysis and canonical correlation. Two groups emerged: one comprising basi cally the epigeic speciesAllolobophora oliveirae, Dendrobaena madeiren‐sis, Dendrobaena octaedraandEisenia eiseni,which tend to prefer organic acid soils with little calcium or magnesium and large quan tities of aluminium in the exchange complex, and the other made up of the endogeic speciesAllolobophora caliginosa, Allolobophora mol‐leri, Allolobophora roseaandAllolobophora chlorotica,which exhibit the opposite tendencies.