Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758

Schenková, Jana, Sychra, Jan, Košel, Vladimír, Kubová, Nela & Horecký, Jakub, 2009, Freshwater leeches (Annelida: Clitellata: Hirudinida) of the Czech Republic (Central Europe): check-list, new records, and remarks on species distributions, Zootaxa 2227, pp. 32-52 : 43

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.190228

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6222127

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F8228781-FFC8-177C-FF78-FF12FB50FBD1

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758
status

 

Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758

Records: Č erná jezera – Dyje River dead arm, Břeclav [7267], 48°43'09"N / 16°54'22"E, lgt. JP, det. JSy (2008); Kačení Louka Pool, Moravičany [6267], lgt. MB, det. MB (1998, 2003), lgt. MŠ, det. MŠ (2008); Kutnar Pond, Rakvice [7166], 48°50'11"N / 16°47'34"E, lgt. JSy, det. JSy (2006); Milotický Pond, Milotice [7068], 48°57'47"N / 17°09'15"E, lgt. JSc, JSy, G Č, det. JSc (2008); Pastvisko Pool, Lednice [7166], 48°48'30"N / 16°47'53"E, ( Sukop 2004), lgt. JSc, NK, det. JSc (2005), lgt. JSc, MŠ, NK, JSy, det. JSc (2006), lgt. JSc, JSy, MS, det. JSc (2007), lgt. JSc, JSy, MS, det. JSc (2008); pond, Ostrovec [6550], lgt. MŠ, det. MŠ (2008); pond, Varvažov [6550], lgt. MŠ, det. MŠ (2008); Sekulská Morava (Morava River dead arm), Lanžhot [7367], 48°37'39"N / 16°57'12"E, lgt. JSc, JSy, NK, det. JSc (2008); Zámecký Pond, Lednice [7166], 48°48'46"N / 16°48'32"E, lgt. JSy, det. JSy (2006), lgt. JSc, JSy, MS, det. JSc (2008) ( Figure 3 View FIGURE 3 ).

Habitats: Hirudo medicinalis was found in shallow stagnant lowland water bodies with abundant vegetation, stable water levels, and presence of amphibian and mammal hosts for juveniles and adults, respectively. All localities were in rather temperate climatic conditions.

Status: Hirudo medicinalis is a critically endangered species in the Czech Republic ( Schenková & Košel 2005) due to intensive agri- and aquaculture in the country, which has resulted in extensive destruction of natural wetlands by drainage and flood-control management. Further loss of critical habitat for this species has resulted from intensive fishery and recreation in the few remaining unaltered wetlands, ponds, and small pools in the country. Based on authors’ monitoring experiences, the intensive mud removal by heavy machinery in the Czech Republic has had destructive impact on H. medicinalis populations. Isolated pools that historically supported populations of medicinal leeches have failed to yield specimens after mud removal operations have been conducted. Recent distributional records for this species in the Czech Republic have been limited to only a few localities in southern and middle Moravia and southern Bohemia.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Annelida

Class

Clitellata

Order

Arhynchobdellida

Family

Hirudinidae

Genus

Hirudo

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