Ozobranchus
| Ozobranchus | ||||||||||||
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Ozobranchus jantseanus , length approx. 7 mm |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ozobranchus | ||||||||||||
| Quatrefages , 1852 |
Ozobranchus is the name of a genus of small leeches in the order of the trunk leeches that live in the sea and in fresh water and parasitize on turtles and one species on crocodiles . It comprises 7 species within the 8 species family Ozobranchidae and is distributed worldwide in the tropics.
features
The flukes genus Ozobranchus have a body that is clearly divided into a front region of head and neck as well as an abdomen. On the front section of the abdomen from the 13th segment, each of the following, depending on the type, 5 to 20 segments each has a pair of gills, while the rearmost segments are gillless. Characteristic for the genus Ozobranchus within the family Ozobranchidae are the tree-like branched gills in contrast to the simple, unbranched gills of the genus Bogabdella .
Distribution, habitat and nutrition
The seven species of the genus Ozobranchus are marine or freshwater inhabitants of the tropics , depending on the habitat of the parasitized reptile species . As permanent ectoparasites , they suck blood - Ozobranchus quatrefagesi in West Africa on crocodiles and pelicans , all other species on the other hand exclusively on turtles . Ozobranchus branchiatus as a species-specific parasite on Chelonia mydas and Ozobranchus margoi on Caretta caretta are distributed in tropical seas around the world, while the other species, of which Ozobranchus jantseanus is the most widespread species, feed on various turtles in inland waters in Asia.
Systematics
Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau chose the name Ozobranchus "twig- gill" ( ancient Greek ὄζος ózos "twig", βράγχιον bránchion "gill") when describing the genus due to the conspicuous branched gills of these leeches.
The genus Ozobranchus forms together with the genus Bogabdella the family Ozobranchidae .
The genus Ozobranchus includes the following 7 species :
- Ozobranchus branchiatus ( Menzies , 1791) (7 pairs of gills, on Chelonia mydas , in tropical seas worldwide)
- Ozobranchus jantseanus Oka , 1912 (11 pairs of gills, on various freshwater turtles, in China, Japan and large parts of Asia)
- Ozobranchus margoi ( Apáthy , 1890) (5 pairs of gills, on Caretta caretta , in tropical seas worldwide)
- Ozobranchus polybranchus Sanjeeva Raj , 1951 (20 pairs of gills, on Pelochelys bibroni , in rivers and streams of South Asia and Southeast Asia)
- Ozobranchus papillatus Kaburaki , 1921 (11 pairs of gills, on Kachuga tectum , in stagnant inland waters of India, according to Moore a synonym for Ozobranchus jantseanus )
- Ozobranchus shipleyi Harding , 1909 (11 pairs of gills, on Nicoria trijuga , in standing inland waters of Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan)
- Ozobranchus quatrefagesi (Poirier & Rochebrune, 1884) alias Lophobdella quatrefagesi (7 pairs of gills, on crocodiles and pelicans , in West Africa)
literature
- Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau (1852): Ozobranchus. Annales des sciences naturelles 3, série XVIII, p. 325.
- Laurence R. Richardson (1969): The family Ozobranchidae redefined, and a novel ozobranchiform leech from Murray River turtles (class Hirudinoidea: order Rhynchobdelliformes). Proceedings of The Linnean Society of New South Wales 94, pp. 61-80.
- Mahesh Chandra: The Leeches of India: A Handbook. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta 1991, p. 13.
- Roy T. Sawyer: Leech Biology and Behavior: Feeding biology, ecology, and systematics. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1986. pp. 660, 700, Ozobranchus, Ozobranchidae .