Checklist / Erpobdellidae / Trocheta / Trocheta tunisiana
Trocheta tunisiana
· Erpobdellidae
External morphology
Size up to 50 mm in length and 5.2 mm in width. The front of the body is broad and rounded compared to T. africana; both anterior and posterior suckers are longitudinally elliptical and the posterior sucker is as wide as the widest part of the body. The head has four pairs of eyes. In the post clitellar region, lateral keels are less prominent than in T. africana. The colour of living specimens is light brown. Dorsally, there are four longitudinal stripes.The ventral surface is always somewhat lighter than the dorsum. The gonopores are separated by two annuli.
Habitat & range
- Habitat
- Freshwater
- Region
- Africa
- Recorded from
- Tunisia
Biology
Collected in smaller brooks and springs
occurring in the mid and higher elevations. It is distributed in the northwest of Tunisia.
Original description
Ben Ahmed R, Bielecki A, Cichocka JM, Tekaya S, Gorzel M, Harrath AH. Erpobdellid leeches (Annelida, Clitellata, Hirudinida) from Tunisia: new records with the description of a new Trocheta species. Zootaxa. 2013;3681:440-54.
Sources used for this page
Picture: 10.11646/zootaxa.3681.4.7