Leech confusions (Leech error message)
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- The infamous blood suckers from Lacus Verbanus
- 1 Introduction
| See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239572900 The infamous blood suckers from Lacus Verbanus Article · January 2006 CITATIONS 16 READS 211 1 author: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: functional ecology View project Ulrich Kutschera I-Cultiver, Inc., S.F. Bay Area, Tracy, CA USA 308 PUBLICATIONS 6,047 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Ulrich Kutschera on 12 March 2014. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. 1 Lauterbornia 56: 1-4, D-86424 Dinkelscherben, 2006-03-15 The infamous blood suckers from Lacus Verbanus U. Kutschera With 1 figure Keywords : Hirudo, Hirudinea, medicinal leeches, identification, endangerment, habitat Schlagwörter : Hirudo, Hirudinea, Medizinische Blutegel, Bestimmung, Gefährdung , Habitat The European medicinal leech ( Hirudo medicinalis L.) is an amphibious ectoparasite of verte brates such as frogs and mammals. This threatened annelid has been used for blood-letting (phlebotomy) since several centuries BC, a classical practice that is today employed by many physicians to aid vascular surgery. In this short communication I will show that the leeches that are currently used for scientific investigations and medical purposes throughout Europe are erroneously attributed to the taxon H. medicinalis . They belong to a separate endangered species, H. verbana Carena, 1820 that deserves the same conservation status as the famous me dicinal leech. 1 Introduction Two and a half centuries ago, Carl von Linné described the "worm" Hirudo medicinalis L. (Linnaeus, 1758). This semiaquatic annelid once inhabited slow- running and stagnant freshwater ecosystems throughout Europe. Today, it is an endangered species that is included in the Invertebrate Red Data Book (Elliott & Tullett 1992). In living specimens, the basic dorsal colour is brown to olive- green, with one characteristic longitudinal pair of paramedian black stripes, composed of drop-like spots. On the ventral side of the body, numerous dark- pigmented spots are visible, a species-specific feature of this taxon. Sixty years later, a second, more colourful thermophilic leech of similar size was discovered in Italy and described in 1820 as a nova species (Carena, 1820). In his Fig. 6 on plate 11 the author depicted a representative specimen in such splendid detail that H. verbana (Locus typicus: Lago Maggiore, lat. Lacus Verba nus ) can be easily distinguished from H. medicinalis . The leeches from Lacus Verbanus have a green-yellow basal colour with a red/orange-pigmented longi tudinal reticulum on the dorsal side and no (or only very few) dark spots on the ventral surface that is characterized by a pair of black marginal stripes. 2 Yüklə 189,76 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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