Helobdella modesta (Verrill, 1872) Siddall et al., 2005

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 modesta (Verrill, 1872) Siddall et al., 2005

Figure 16

Specimens all correspond to the description of H. modesta due to the presence of an obvious chitinous nuchal scute on the dorsal surface of VIII, one pair of eyespots, and the absence of dorsal or ventral papillation or pigmentation. The presence of a nuchal scute had led previous taxonomists to synonymize almost every previously described species exhibiting this characteristic under the name Helobdella stagnalis Linnaeus, 1758 . Siddall et al. (2005), using a phylogenetic perspective, resurrected Helobdella modesta (Verrill, 1872) for the North American species. 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.