Checklist / Erpobdellidae / Trocheta / Trocheta kesirvenensis
Trocheta kesirvenensis
· Erpobdellidae
External morphology
Body straight and rather long, clearly flattened dorsoventrally, dark brown. Preserved specimens dark brown. Venter similar in colour to dorsum, with lighter appearance but without longitudinal lines. Irregular and scattered small papillae on ventral surface. Body contains 160 annuli except for the posterior sucker. Middle body segments have nine annuli. Segmental rings heteronomous, comprising seven narrow annuli equal to each other and two wide annuli twice as large as others. Wide annuli are oriented one after the other. First wide ring is slightly subdivided, whereas second wide annuli is more clearly subdivided. Eyes unidentifiable in living specimens, they are completely lost in the skin of the dorsal surface, which is quite dark. Even in alcohol- preserved specimens, the dark colour of dorsum does not fade. Male gonopore in middle of a2 annulus between annuli separated as b3–b4 by a deep groove. Female gonopore situated on the c11 annulus. Gonopores are separated by 3.5 annuli. Male gonopore in middle of XIa2(b3/b4) on 36–37th annuli.
Habitat & range
- Habitat
- Freshwater
- Region
- Europe
- Recorded from
- Turkey
Taxonomic notes
Sold as 'Durdubak' for purpose of fish baiting in Central and Western Europe, often advertised as Haemopis sanguisuga or Trocheta danastrica. See 10.37828/em.2025.88.18
Original description
Saglam, Naim; Saunders, Ralph; Shain, Daniel H. (2025). Species delimitation recovers undescribed Erpobdellidae (Annelida: Hirudinea) from USA and Türkiye. Zootaxa. 5627(3): 455-479.