Limnatis paluda
| Limnatis paluda | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Limnatis paluda | ||||||||||||
| ( Tennent , 1859) |
Limnatis Paluda is the name of a kind in the fresh water of live leeches from the order of Kieferegel that as a temporary endoparasite in mouths and airways in mammals as well as human blood drawn. It is common in the Middle East .
features
Limnatis paluda becomes about 2.4 to 6.6 cm long and up to 8.5 mm wide. It has a beige to brownish, brownish-yellow or brownish-green back, usually without or with slightly orange or yellow longitudinal stripes, and a ventral side with the same or a slightly paler color. Both suckers are big. The rear suction cup is more or less significantly wider than the widest part of the torso. The head is quite wide: the body width at the throat is usually more than half the maximum body width.
There are numerous papillae on each of the three very small, soft jaws and 30 to 47 teeth in a row (monostichodont). These can bite through the mucous membranes of mammals, but not their fur or human skin. There are papillae between the teeth, which are probably used to produce saliva. The front lip of the oral suction cup is grooved along the entire length of the abdomen. The storage stomach has 2 pairs of heavily lobed blind sacs in each segment. The genitals of the hermaphrodite animals have only a small male atrium and a short, small vagina .
distribution and habitat
The Limnatis paluda is widespread in inland waters of the Middle East and has been verified by finds in Saudi Arabia , Yemen , Pakistan and Kazakhstan .
nutrition
Limnatis paluda feeds on the blood of various vertebrates . Mammalian skin is too thick for the jaws of this leech, so the young leeches wait for opportunities for mammals to come to a spring or water hole to drink and dip their mouth and nose in the water. The leeches often attach themselves to the oral mucosa and the upper respiratory tract in large numbers and sometimes remain in their host for weeks, where they repeatedly drink their fill of blood. Not only pets such as domestic dogs , but also people are affected. If the leeches have grown enough on the host's mucous membranes, they leave him at the next water point.
Life cycle
Limnatis Paluda like all clitellata a hermaphrodite . Mating, in which two leeches mate each other, takes place in a body of water, for which the parasites have to leave their host. With the help of the clitellum, both partners form a cocoon and lay their eggs in it. Finished little leeches hatch out of the cocoon, waiting for the opportunity for a thirsty mammal to come and dip its nose into the water to become the host of this parasite.
literature
- Willi Büttiker, Friedhelm Krupp: Fauna of Arabia. Pro Entomologia, Naturhistorisches Museum , Basel 1984. pp. 156f.
- JP Moore: Limnatis paluda (Tennent). In: Walter Ambrose Heath Harding, John Percy Moore (Eds.): The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hirudinea. Taylor and Francis, London 1927. pp. 201-206.
- Takafumi Nakano, Tatjana Dujsebayeva, Kanto Nishikawa (2015): First record of Limnatis paluda (Hirudinida, Arhynchobdellida, Praobdellidae) from Kazakhstan, with comments on genetic diversity of Limnatis leeches. Biodiversity Data Journal 2015 (3), e5004. doi : 10.3897 / BDJ.3.e5004 , PMID 25941456 , PMC 4411494 (free full text).