Helobdella stagnalis (Linneaus, 1758)

Ahmed, Raja Ben, Romdhane, Yasmina & Tekaya, Saïda, 2015, Checklist and Distribution of Marine and freshwater leeches (Annelida, Clitellata, Hirudinea) in Tunisia with identification key, Ecologica Montenegrina 2 (1), pp. 3-19 : 7

Helobdella stagnalis (Linneaus, 1758)

( Fig. 2C)

Diagnosis: The body is flattened and lanceolate. The general colouration is gray. The head bears one pair of eyes. A brown plaque (scute) is present on the dorsal side in the neck region. The gonopores are separated by a single annulus.

Habitat: The species was collected under stones, especially in stagnant and slowly running waters. Associated fauna: chironomids and Gammarus .

Distribution: Helobdella stagnalis is a cosmopolitan species. It is common in Europe and fairly frequent in Asia and in North and South America. It is poorly represented in India and in Africa. It was reported from Morocco ( Moore 1939) and recently from Egypt by Gouda & El­Shiemy (2004). Additional records from South Africa have been reported by Oosthuizen & Siddall (2003).

In Tunisia ( Fig. 5A), this species was collected under emergent stones by Ben Ahmed et al. (submitted paper) from: El Kef governorate: Elkhalsa drainage basin, Sers (35.95437N, 09.17461E) , Siliana governorate: Essoudiya Spring (36.95995N, 09.531145E) and Bizerte governorate: Oued Joumine, Mateur­ Séjnen (37.00351N, 09.37315E) .