Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida.They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodies that can lengthen and contract.
You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work; to remix – to adapt the work; Under the following conditions: attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
Hirudo medicinalis, or the European medicinal leech, is one of several species of leeches used as medicinal leeches. Other species of Hirudo sometimes also used as medicinal leeches include H. orientalis , H. troctina , and H. verbana .
The annelids (/ ˈ æ n ə l ɪ d z /), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (/ ə ˈ n ɛ l ɪ d ə /; from Latin anellus 'little ring'). [3] [a] The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches.
Well-known Haemadipsidae are for example the Indian Leech (Haemadipsa sylvestris) and the yamabiru or Japanese Mountain Leech (Haemadipsa zeylanica). Members of the family feed on blood, except Idiobdella which has adapted to eat small snails. [1] The other notable group of jawed blood-sucking leeches are the aquatic Hirudinidae.
Haemadipsa picta (common names: tiger leech, or less commonly, stinging land leech) is a large (up to 33 mm long) terrestrial leech found in Borneo, Indochina, and Taiwan. [1] [2] It was described by John Percy Moore based on specimens collected from Sarawak, Borneo. [3] It preys primarily on medium- to large-sized mammals, including humans. [2]
The leech sometimes emerges from the water to hunt for earthworms. [4] [7] Like other leeches, Haemopis sanguisuga is a hermaphrodite. The testes mature first and the ovaries later in the organism's life. A pair of leeches will line up with the clitellar regions in contact, and sperm is passes by the one acting as male to the female gonopore.
Glossiphoniidae are a family of freshwater proboscis-bearing leeches.These leeches are generally flattened, and have a poorly defined anterior sucker.Most suck the blood of freshwater vertebrates like amphibians, crocodilians and aquatic turtles, but some feed on invertebrates like oligochaetes and freshwater snails instead.