Helobdella papillata (Verrill, 1872) Siddall and Borda, 2003

Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro, Kvist, Sebastian, Watson, Sara C., Sankar, Dominic F., Overstreet, Robin M. & Siddall, Mark E., 2010, Leech Collections from Washington State, with the Description of Two New Species of Placobdella (Annelida: Glossiphoniidae), American Museum Novitates 2010 (3701), pp. 1-16 : 10

Helobdella papillata (Verrill, 1872) Siddall and Borda, 2003

Figure 17

The presence of one pair of eyespots, longitudinal dorsal pigmented stripes, and rows of black-tipped papillae as well as one annulus between gonopores and diffuse salivary glands match the description of Helobdella papillata . This species belongs to the “ triserialis ” complex of species defined by Sawyer, 1986. Helobdella triserialis (Blanchard, 1894) was originally described based on specimens collected in Chile. However, because of the high degree of variation in the various forms in the New World, Ringuelet (1943) lumped them all under “ H. triserialis . ” Siddall and Borda (2003) found that at least North and South American forms each constitute distinct evolutionary lineages and resurrected Verrill’s name, Helobdella papillata , for North American forms, all of which are genetically similar regardless of pigmentation. Specimens were found on the underside of submerged rocks and wood.

Figures

FIGURES 14–19. Glossiphoniids found in Washington in this study; dorsal and ventral views, left and right respectively. 14. Glossiphonia elegans. 15. Helobdella elongata. 16. H. modesta. 17. Helobdella papillata. 18. Placobdella montifera. 19. Theromyzon cf. rude. Scale bars = 5 mm.