Australian country leech
| Australian country leech | ||||||||||||
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Chtonobdella limbata in Sydney (Australia) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Chtonobdella limbata | ||||||||||||
| Pit , 1866 |
The Australian land leech ( Chtonobdella limbata ) is a kind of Landegel (Haemadipsidae) attached to the bottom of forests of southeastern Australia as a blood sucking parasite different vertebrates and the human affects.
features
The elongated body of Chtonobdella limbata is colored bottle green and marked in the middle of the back with a distinct yellow longitudinal stripe and with yellowish lateral longitudinal stripes, on the side of the back dense and irregularly spotted black and also spotted black on the belly. The animal becomes 3 cm to 5 cm long and 4 mm to 10 mm wide. The rear suction cup has a diameter of about 10 mm. The middle segments each have 5 ringlets, the whole animal has about 89 to 95 ringlets and has clear transverse rows of papillae. The back is grainy on the rear suction cup. The male genital opening is between the 30th and 31st, the female between the 37th and 38th segment. On other specimens, the genital openings are between the 24th and 25th and the 31st and 32nd segments. Chtonobdella limbata has two ventrolateral jaws with 67 pointed teeth each, but like other Chtonobdella species does not have a central dorsal jaw, as found in the Haemadipsa genus common leeches in Southeast Asia . The bite wounds therefore only have two punctures and not three as with Haemadipsa .
distribution and habitat
Chtonobdella limbata can be found in damp forests on the forest floor and also in low foliage. It is common in New South Wales in southeast Australia and also occurs in the city of Sydney .
Nutrition and importance for humans
The leech sucks blood on various vertebrates , including dogs and humans . The bite is not considered dangerous, but it can cause bleeding (due to the anticoagulant agent of the leech) and itching. Thinner clothing can be bitten through.
literature
- Adolph Eduard Grube: H. [Hirudo] (Chtonobdella) limbata. In: Adolph Eduard Grube: Annelids. With 4 panels. In: Bernhard Freiherr von Wüllersdorf-Urbair: Journey of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth in the years 1857, 1858, 1859 under the orders of Commodore B. Zoological Part, Second Volume, Third Division, 2nd Annelids. From the Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1868, p. 41.
- Laurence R. Richardson (1968): An annotated list of Australian leeches. Proceedings of The Linnean Society of New South Wales 92, pp. 227-245, here 240-243.
- Laurence R. Richardson (1968): Observations on the Australian land-leech, Chtonobdella limbata (Grube, 1866) (Hirudinea: Haemadipsidae). Australian Zoologist 14 (3), pp. 294-305.