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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.
Description English: Leech in cross-section. Whereas other annelids are largely hollow, with a spacious coelom, leeches are largely solid, filled with dermis, and the coelom reduced to channels.
Hirudo is a genus of leeches of the family Hirudinidae.It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. [2]The two well-accepted species within the genus are: [3]
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.
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 .
Hirudinaria [1] is a genus of large Asian leeches belonging to the family Cylicobdellidae; [2] previously it was placed in the Hirudinidae. [3] [a] It includes species such as H. manillensis that may be called "Asian medicinal leeches", but together with the genus Poecilobdella, they are also described as Asian buffalo leeches.
During a blood meal, a leech rhythmically contracts its muscles to draw blood from a host animal into the crop for storage. It can consume over five times its own weight in blood in one feeding. Once satiated, a leech detaches from its host. Hirudo verbana uses anticoagulants when it feeds, so its bite wounds continue bleeding for some time ...
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 ...