ANIMAL SPECIES:Leeches
Leeches are annelids or segmented worms, and although closely related to the earthworms, are anatomically and behaviourally more specialised.
Identification
The bodies of all leeches are divided into the same number of segments (34), with a powerful clinging sucker at each end (although the anterior, or front sucker can be very small). Body shape is variable, but to some extent depends on the degree to which their highly muscular bodies are contracted. The mouth is in the anterior sucker and the anus is on the dorsal surface (top) just in front of the rear sucker.
Leeches usually have three jaws and make a Y-shaped incision. The Australian land leech has only two jaws and makes a V-shaped incision. Australian leeches can vary in size from about 7 mm long to as much as 200 mm when extended.
Size range
7 mm long to 200 mm when extendedDistribution
Leeches can be found almost anywhere in Australia where there are suitable damp areas and watercourses although they are absent from the permanently arid areas. There are even marine leeches, but these feed on the blood of fishes (including the Electric Ray with its fearsome electric shocking abilities!) and other marine life – not humans.
Habitat
Most leeches are freshwater animals, but many terrestrial and marine species occur.
Land leeches are common on the ground or in low foliage in wet rain forests. In drier forests they may be found on the ground in seepage moistened places. Most do not enter water and cannot swim, but can survive periods of immersion.
In dry weather, some species burrow in the soil where they can survive for many months even in a total lack of environmental water. In these conditions the body is contracted dry and rigid, the suckers not distinguishable, and the skin completely dry. Within ten minutes of sprinkling with a few drops of water, these leeches emerge, fully active.
Freshwater leeches prefer to live in still or slowly flowing waters, but specimens have been collected from fast flowing streams.
Some species are considered amphibious as they have been observed in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats.
Behaviour and adaptations
Feeding and Diet
Most leeches are sanguivorous, that is they feed as blood sucking parasites on preferred hosts. If the preferred food is not available most leeches will feed on other classes of host. Some feed on the blood of humans and other mammals, while others parasitise fish, frogs, turtles or birds. Some leeches will even take a meal from other sanguivorous leeches which may die after the attack.
Sanguivorous leeches can ingest several times their own weight in blood at one meal. After feeding the leech retires to a dark spot to digest its meal. Digestion is slow and this enables the leech to survive during very long fasting periods (up to several months).
Leeches are grouped according to the different ways they feed:
- One group (the jawed leeches or Gnatbobdellida) have jaws armed with teeth with which they bite the host. The blood is prevented from clotting by production of a non-enzymatic secretion called hirudin. The land leech commonly encountered by bushwalkers is included in this group.
- A second group (the jawless leeches or Rhyncobdellida) insert a needle-like protrusion called a proboscis into the body of the host and secrete an enzyme, hemetin which dissolves clots once they have formed. Leeches which live on body fluids of worms and small freshwater snails possess such an apparatus.
- A third group, (the worm leeches or Pharyngobdellida) have no jaws or teeth and swallow the prey whole. Its food consists of small invertebrates.
Other behaviours and adaptations
Respiration takes place through the body wall, and a slow undulating movement observed in some leeches is said to assist gaseous exchange. Aquatic leeches tend to move to the surface when they find themselves in water of low oxygen content. As a fall in atmospheric pressure results in a small decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations, rising leeches in a jar of water provided nineteenth century weather forecasters with a simple way of predicting bad weather.
Sensory organs on the head and body surface enable a leech to detect changes in light intensity, temperature, and vibration. Chemical receptors on the head provide a sense of smell and there may be one or more pairs of eyes. The number of eyes and their arrangement can be of some use in Identification, however to properly identify a leech, dissection is required.
The Rhyncobdellids are capable of dramatic colour changes, and although not an attempt at camouflage, the significance of this behaviour is unknown.
Foraging
A hungry leech is very responsive to light and mechanical stimuli. It tends to change position frequently, and explore by head movement and body waving. It also assumes an alert posture, extending to full length and remaining motionless. This is thought to maximise the function of the sensory structures in the skin.
In response to disturbances by an approaching host, the leech will commence "inchworm crawling", continuing in a trial and error way until the anterior sucker touches the host and attaches. Aquatic leeches are more likely to display this "pursuit" behaviour, while common land leeches often accidentally attach to a host.
Mating and reproduction
As hermaphrodites, leeches have both male and female sex organs. Like the earthworms they also have a clitellum, a region of thickened skin which is only obvious during the reproductive period. Mating involves the intertwining of bodies where each deposits sperm in the others' clitellar area. Rhyncobdellids have no penis but produce sharp packages of sperm which are forced through the body wall.
The sperm then make their way to the ovaries where fertilisation takes place. The clitellum secretes a tough gelatinous cocoon which contains nutrients, and it is in this that the eggs are deposited.
The leech shrugs itself free of the cocoon, sealing it as it passes over the head.
The cocoon is either buried or attached to a rock, log or leaf and dries to a foamy crust. After several weeks or months, the young emerge as miniature adults. Studies show that the cocoons are capable of surviving the digestive system of a duck. Leeches die after one or two bouts of reproduction.
Living with us
Economic/social impacts
Medicinal use of leeches
For over 2000 years, leeches were needlessly applied for many ailments as an adjunct to blood letting. Their use in Europe peaked between 1830 and 1850, but subsequent shortages led to a decline in their use. Today there is a real clinical application in that they are of great value to plastic surgeons when venous congestion of skin and muscle flaps is a problem.
Leeches are treated in the same way as blood products and are reused only on the same patient.
Medical use of leeches also includes treatment of black eyes, and hirudin is used in the treatment of inflammation of the middle ear. Hirudin is also being developed for experimental use as a systemic anticoagulant, and may prove useful in invitro blood sampling.
Leeches in Sydney suburbs
The Sydney suburban sprawl is resulting in houses extending into areas such as wet valleys that leeches normally prefer. It is therefore less distance for these leeches to travel in wet weather before they end up in backyards and can get a meal from domestic animals or humans living there. Similarly the domestic animals and humans themselves unwittingly bring many leeches home with them from bush walks, holidays, and other travels. If these leeches are adult they will invariably find a suitable damp spot in the garden to lay their eggs and suddenly you have a colony of leeches in your backyard.
Management
Leech repellents
The most common enquiry regarding leeches concerns repellents. It is unknown whether a specific preparation is commercially available but there is a plethora of tried and tested, but unproven leech-protection ideas. These include a lather of bath soap smeared on exposed parts and left to dry, applications of eucalyptus oil, tropical strength insect repellent, lemon juice and impenetrable barriers of socks and pantyhose.
Danger to humans and first aid
The presence of hirudin in the wound following a leech bite may cause oozing to continue for several hours. Although inconvenient, blood loss is not significant.
Gut bacteria can cause wound infection. In the post-operative use of leeches this is closely monitored and dealt with by use of the appropriate antibiotic.
There may also be a delayed irritation and itching after a bite. There appears to be no support for the theory that mouthparts left behind after forced removal of the leech causes this reaction.
Can leeches transmit disease?
There is no evidence to suggest that they do. The presence of trypanosomes, (malarial parasites), in the gut of jawless leeches has been noted, but jawed leeches do not appear to be hosts.
Allergy to leech bite has been reported. Medical opinion should be sought, depending on the severity of the reaction.
Classification
- Subclass:
- Hirudinea
- Class:
- Clitellata
- Phylum:
- Annelida
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
References
- Mann, K.H. 1962. Leeches (Hirudinea) Their structure, Physiology, Ecology and Embryology. Pergamon Press Ltd
- Williams, W.D.Australian Freshwater Life. Globe Press
- Sawe, R.T. Leech Biology & Behaviour (reprint). Neurobiology of the Leech, 1981. Cola Spring Harbour Laboratory
- Seliznev, K.G. et al. Use of the medicinal Leech in the treatment of ear diseases. Relat. Spec. (Switz) 1992 54 (1) 1-4
- Wills, M.D. et al. The Medicinal Leech: an old treatment revisited. Microsurgery (US) 1993 14 (3) 183-6
- Richardson, L.R. Observations on the Australian Land Leech, Chtonobdella Libbata (Grube, 1866). Aust. Zoologist V. XIV (3) 1968
- Davies, R.W., Linton, L.R., Wrona, F.J. Passive dispersal of Four Species of Freshwater Leeches (Hirudinoidea) by ducks. Freshwater Invertebrate Biol. 1982 1(4) 40-44
- Richardson, L.R. Trypanosomes in the crop of an Haemadipsid leech. 1968 Aust. Journal of Sci. vol 30 (9)
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A gilled leech beside the nostril of a Numbfish View full size
Erik Schlögl
© Erik Schlögl
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5 comments
Martyn Robinson
10.03 AM, 09 March 2010
Hello Wombat,
I think it is more a case of the right weather conditions rather than a breeding season for leeches. Warm, wet weather suits them very well but they are also out and about in cold wet weather too - just a bit slower! Dry and windy is the weather they hate most. As for treating your property to get rid of them that seems almost impossible to do as they have entered the Sydney suburbs in some areas and the owners have been battling them for years. As far as is known they are a nuisance rather than a health threat (although care should be taken that the bite wounds don't get infected). Some places that have rainforest walks have found certain products that can be applied along the pathways to keep the leeches away from these - you could ask these establishments what they use. Wholesale treatment of your land however is not recommended as it is more than likely to kill off a lot of beneficial animals instead - and you'll probably still have leeches at the finish. Interestingly there is one species of leech (a large rough skinned version) which feeds on the other blood sucking species and could be used as a biological control.
S
M
w0mbat
10.03 PM, 08 March 2010
G'day, I just brought up property in the Central Coast and there is a creek near me (about 50 meters away). Every time we go out bush we are getting 10-20 leeches on us. I was wondering if they have a breeding season where there is more of them than usual or if I have tonnes if there is away to clear them from my land? I have a young son and am a bit worried he'll freak out. Cheers!
Ondine Evans
9.01 AM, 03 January 2010
Hi Jupiter. This is an interesting question to which we don't have an answer as yet! I checked the Department of Medical Entomology site (Westmead Hospital/University of Sydney) to see what they say about mosquitoes (as they specialise in insects!) - they have an FAQ that says there is no evidence for HIV transmission in mosquitoes as the virus is so short lived and the blood sucking mechanism is separate from the saliva flow. I don't know if this is the same for leeches, but I suspect not as they are used in legitimate medical practices for tissue repair. However, as we are not medical experts, I can't say for sure! It'd be worth doing a bit of sleuthing on the net to find out...
Jupiter
9.12 PM, 30 December 2009
Just wondering if leeches can become HIV/Hepatitis hosts and if they can they transmit these diseases to human beings they have bitten.
AllAboutParasites
12.07 PM, 10 July 2009
A lady recently asked me a question about live leeches on my parasites website. I just wanted to say that I found your article very informative and well written when I was researching the information she needed. I answered her question at http://www.allaboutparasites.com/live-leeches.html but if you have further insight to add, it's most welcome. Although I've met a few leeches in my time both in the water and in the forest, it's not really my area of expertise. Thanks again!
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