How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2005 Life History and Distribution of the Leech Oligobdella biannulata () (Euhirudinea: Glossiphoniidae)
William E. Moser, R. Wayne Van Devender, Donald J. Klemm
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Oligobdella biannulata is a rare, endemic leech species originally described from a mountain stream near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, U.S.A. Specimens of O. biannulata were collected seasonally (fall 1999–summer 2002), documenting new county records from North Carolina and South Carolina and new state records from Georgia and Tennessee, U.S.A. Fifty-one percent of Desmognathus quadramaculatus and 50% of Desmognathus marmoratus were parasitized with O. biannulata. Between late May and early July, O. biannulata leaves its salamander host to lay 15–30 bright yellow, yolky eggs and brood them on its ventral surface. Eggs hatch in 10–20 d, and in about 50 d both hatchlings and adult search for a blood meal. Oligobdella biannulata reattaches to its host between late August and early October. When a desmognathine salamander host is found the adult leech attaches and hatchlings leave the adult, attaching singly or in clusters on the limbs or axillary and inguinal regions of the salamander, blood feeding, and overwintering on the host.

William E. Moser, R. Wayne Van Devender, and Donald J. Klemm "Life History and Distribution of the Leech Oligobdella biannulata () (Euhirudinea: Glossiphoniidae)," Comparative Parasitology 72(1), 17-21, (1 January 2005). https://doi.org/10.1654/4160
Published: 1 January 2005
KEYWORDS
Desmognathinae
Desmognathus marmoratus
Desmognathus quadramaculatus
Euhirudinea
Glossiphonidae
Hirudinea
Oligobdella biannulata
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top