The captive breeding and educational display of the Medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis (Linnaeus 1758) at Bristol Zoo Gardens

Abstract

This paper provides information on the culture of the Medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis, including housing and environmental requirements, husbandry protocols and captive breeding. The conservation status of the Medicinal leech and issues surrounding its preservation, and also uses for this species in medicine and as an educational‐display subject, are discussed. This species has been maintained at Bristol Zoo Gardens, UK, from May 1996 to the present and has been bred successfully since 2001. The Medicinal leeches that are used in both the husbandry trials and educational display at Bristol Zoo Gardens originated from Turkish stock and were obtained from Biopharm UK Ltd, Dyfed, UK.

A study on nutrition of medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820): Cannibalism?

“…It was calculated that the daily average weight loss for each leech was 11.67 mg, and the initial weight will be attained in 185 days (~6 months). This value appears to be compatible with the frequency of feeding requirement reported by Dickinson and Lent (1984) and Spencer and Jones (2007). However, it should be considered that the frequency of needing for re-feeding is changed inversely proportional with water temperature.…”

“…Because of the feeding frequency of the medicinal leeches maybe as long as one year (Spencer and Jones, 2007), it is possible that some leeches acted uninterested to the bowels filled with blood during the feeding experiment. Therefore, it was thought that the some leeches collected from wild for this study were fed a short time ago in their habitats, and they weren't fed during this feeding experiment, in spite of stimulate them for feeding.…”

“…Medicinal leeches feed by sucking blood of the vertebrates such as mammals, fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles (Dickinson and Lent, 1984;Sawyer, 1986;Merilä and Sterner;2002;Kutschera and Roth, 2005), and their sucking capability is up to 8.9±0.2 times of their initial weight (Dickinson and Lent, 1984). Water temperature affects the feeding frequency of medicinal leeches; feeding frequency is once every 8-12 months at 10-20 o C and 3-6 months at 20-35 o C (Spencer and Jones, 2007).…”

Vol:37 Issue:3

“…The study conducted in aquatic sciences laboratory in İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Faculty of Fisheries between 22 August 2016 and 12 January 2017. The experiment was designed based on previous studies (Wilkin and Scofield, 1991;Spencer and Jones, 2007;Petrauskiene et al, 2009;Ceylan et al, 2015). The trial consists of three stages.…”