Leeches of the World

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Species

Checklist / Glossiphoniidae / Hemiclepsis / Hemiclepsis kasmiana

Hemiclepsis kasmiana

Oka, 1910 · Glossiphoniidae

Hemiclepsis kasmiana, a leech of the family Glossiphoniidae

External morphology

Dorsum orangish brown with 5 longitudinal whitish stripes; each stripe broadens on a3 of each mid-body somite, sometimes forming continuous whitish transverse bands. Caudal sucker ventral, oval. Somites IV–XXIV triannulate. Anus on somite XXVII. Male gonopore between somites XI and XII, female gonopore between somite XII a2 and a3, gonopores separated by 2 annuli. Eyespots in 2 pairs; 1st pair on somite II, 2nd pair on somite III. Mouth pore on center of oral sucker.

Internal morphology

Oesophagus simple, Oesophageal gland absent. Bacteriomes absent. Crop with 11 pairs of crop ceca, 1st–4th pairs simple; 5th– 10th pairs diverticulated during engorgement, 11th pair (post-crop ceca) diverticulated into five or more sections. Intersomital testisacs in 6 pairs. Paired sperm ducts thick, strongly coiled. Atrial cornua directed anterolaterally, developed ovate. Paired simple ovisacs tubular

Habitat & range

Habitat
Freshwater
Region
Asia
Recorded from
China, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, Korea

Biology

Host Siluridae and Odontobutidae

Taxonomic notes

Korean and Russian individuals likely a separate species from Japanese individuals

Junior synonyms

Batracobdella kasmiana

Original description

Oka, Asajiro. (1910). Synopsis der Japanischen Hirudineen, mit Diagnosen der Neuen Species. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses. 7: 165-183.

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