The Leech <em>Haemopis lateromaculata</em> (Hirudinea: Haemopidae): Its North America Distribution and Additional Notes on Species Description

Abstract

In an effort to understand the limits of leech (Hirudinea) fauna distribution in western North America, a geographical study defined by hydrological basins was undertaken and is still in progress. The report herein describes a taxonomic problem with Haemopis marmorata (Say 1824) in western North America, a species known to be difficult to distinguish by external characteristics from H. grandis (Verrill 1874) (Sawyer 1972) and H. lateromaculata. Four populations of Haemopis were found without teeth and these populations were initially identified as H. grandis (Hovingh 1993). Examination by dissection revealed that the penis sheaths of these populations were H. marmorata and that these specimens had jaws. As a result of this identification problem, the penis sheaths of all mature Haemopis were examined.In examining the reproductive organs of Haemopis, it became apparent that H. lateromaculata specimens in museum collections had often been misidentified as H. marmorata. A study of Utah (Beck 1954) and Al askan (Moore and Meyer 1951) Haemopis vouchers deposited in the United States National Museum (USNM) contained several lots identified as H. lateromaculata. Three lots of specimens that were collected from British Columbia and Newfoundland, two of which were identified by J. Madill as H. lateromaculata plus one unidentified due to poor conditions are deposited in The Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The two lots at CMN are the first observations of H. lateromaculata outside of the type localities of Minnesota and Iowa (Mathers 1963). A specimen from Michigan was utilized in a leech phylogenetic studies (Borda and Siddall 2004).The reproductive organs of Haemopis marmorata and H. lateromaculata specimens collected from western North America examined are presented in this paper. Based on accurate diagnosis of the species, the external characteristics (pigmentation patterns) were determined to distinguish these two species from one another. The results herein describe the geographical distribution of H. lateromaculata, and support some taxonomic and paleogeographic hypotheses concerning the family Haemopidae. MethodsSpecimens of Haemopis were collected during the last 20 years from localities in western North America. The surveys consisted of visual encounters and hand picking from the underside of stones, logs, and aquatic vegetation. The specimens were relaxed with 10% ethanol, blotted by paper towel to removed the mucous excreted from the relaxation process, fixed with 10% formalin in phosphate buffered saline between two sheets of paper towels overnight, and placed in 70% ethanol for preservation.Identification of all large Haemopis specimens was determined by examining the reproductive organs through a mid-dorsal cut from the annulus with the female gonopore posteriorly approximately 20 annuli. If the penis sheath was not located with this examination, the dorsal cut was extended anteriorly for some 10 annuli. Teeth and jaws were examined by a midventral cut of the lower lip. Posterior...

Leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) from the far north of Ontario: distribution, diversity, and diagnostics

“…It is remarkable that, despite the harsh winter climates in northern Ontario (including the area of continuous permafrost on the northern coast), 52% of Ontario's known non-piscicolid leech diversity is also recovered from the far north of the province. Taken together, the collection sites cover a substantial part of this region and, as far as the authors can tell, eight of the twelve species records are first reported in the present study (see Hovingh 2006).…”

“…Our ROM-curated records were augmented by largely unpublished records in the online database of the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN). To increase the comprehensiveness of the present study, 102 individuals collected at 25 localities, and representing 10 different species, were included from the CMN database, only four of which have been previously published (see Hovingh 2006).…”

“…Of the haemopid species recovered, Haemopis grandis and H. marmorata are considered common and widely distributed in North America, with H. grandis being especially well represented in the Great Lakes region (Klemm 1982). Haemopis lateromaculata has more recently been described as widely distributed in North America (Hovingh 2006). Members of the genus are known to be amphibious (Madill and Hovingh 2007), yet only Haemopis terrestris (Forbes 1890) is described as fully terrestrial.…”

18s rDNA characterization and morphological investigation of the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis from Felaw Pond

“…The extended length and diameter were measured, color patterns recorded (photos of live specimens were taken with a Canon camera), clitella and gonopores position detected, number of eyes counted, the shape of suckers recorded, and then each specimen enumerated [6,8,9]. Leeches were fixed by gently being pressed up to nearly flat (between two glass slides), and after total relaxation, they were fixed in 10% buffered formalin (for at least 3 h and large specimens were left for 24 h) and preserved in 70% ethanol [6,10,11]. Photographs were taken with a Canon camera (Open Box Canon Power Shot ELPH 180 camera, 8x Optical Zoom, 20.0 Megapixel), and drawings were made with a Lucida tube attached to an ocular micrometer.…”