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When breeding, most marine leeches leave their hosts and become free-living in estuaries. Here they produce their cocoons, after which the adults of most species die. When the eggs hatch, the juveniles seek out potential hosts when these approach the shore. [37] Leeches mostly have an annual or biannual life cycle. [34]
Leeches are hermaphrodites, and mating may take place on or off the fish host, but in either case, the cocoon, usually containing a single egg, is deposited elsewhere, usually stuck to a stone or piece of vegetation, or even to the carapace of a crustacean. When the egg hatches, the juvenile leech has about a week to find a suitable fish host ...
Exsanguination is the loss of blood from the circulatory system of a vertebrate, usually leading to death.The word comes from the Latin 'sanguis', meaning blood, [1] and the prefix 'ex-', meaning 'out of'.
As in other species of leech, a cocoon is secreted by the clitellum, a thickened glandular section of the body wall behind the head, and this moves forwards over the head, receiving fertilised eggs from the gonopore on the way. [5] In some areas, Erpobdella obscura has a semelparous life history, i.e., the leech dies after reproduction.
Adult leeches are distinguished by the presence of a clitellum, where its oval shaped cocoons are secreted from. [8] [20] These cocoons have approximately 5–10 eggs each. [8] Most individuals lay cocoons within 1 year of hatching and subsequently die. [21]
Haementeria ghilianii is a species of leech in the Glossiphoniidae family, comprising freshwater proboscis-bearing leeches. Colloquially, they are known as the Amazon giant leech . Following its initial description in 1849, additional details were provided based on specimens from French Guiana in 1899, after which the species was largely ...
Macrobdella decora does parasitize humans and is often found by people swimming in Canada and the northern United States. Sometimes swimming areas have had to be restricted or even closed due to the leech's presence. [7]: 67 Historically, M. decora was in fact not used very much in bloodletting, despite its common name as a "medicinal leech".
Two young dogs in Iran with symptoms including anorexia, anaemia, hyper-salivation, retching, and bleeding from the mouth, were found to have leeches under their tongues. If left untreated animals may die, but these dogs recovered after the leeches were removed. [5]