Leeches of the World

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817
Species

Checklist / Erpobdellidae / Motobdella / Motobdella montezuma

Motobdella montezuma

Davies, Singhal & Blinn, 1985 ยท Erpobdellidae

Motobdella montezuma, a leech of the family Erpobdellidae

External morphology

Body lenght is up to 71 mm. The oral sucker is large, deeply cupped, almost hemispherical. Three pairs of eyes are present dorsally. The eyes in the first pair are closer and smaller than the eyes in the second and third pairs. Two characteristic strong, wide, dark, heavily pigmented dark paramedial stripes extend from the anal region to the anterior neck. The genital pores are invariably present in the furrows on the raised pouted lips and are separated by two annuli.

Habitat & range

Habitat
Freshwater
Region
North America
Recorded from
USA

Biology

Montezuma Well endemic

Taxonomic notes

Motobdella may not be a valid genus

Original description

Ronald W. Davies, R. N. Singhal, and D. W. Blinn. 1985. Erpobdella montezuma (Hirudinoidea: Erpobdellidae), a new species of freshwater leech from North America. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 63(4): 965-969.

doi:10.37828/em.2023.63.3