Macrobdella

Macrobdella
Macrobdella decora, the North American medicinal leech, in Buckingham, Quebec
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Clade: Pleistoannelida
Clade: Sedentaria
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Order: Arhynchobdellida
Suborder: Hirudiniformes
Family: Macrobdellidae
Genus: Macrobdella
Verrill, 1872[1][2]

Macrobdella is a genus of leeches[1] native to freshwater ecosystems of North America, especially Canada, Mexico, and the United States.[3] The genus is commonly referred to as North American medicinal leeches.

Species

There are five recognized species of Macrobdella.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Macrobdella .

References

  1. ^ a b c "Macrobdella Verrill, 1872". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  2. ^ "Macrobdella Verrill, 1872". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  3. ^ Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro; Salas-Montiel, Ricardo; Phillips, Anna J. (July 2016). "Distribution of the New England Medicinal Leech, Macrobdella sestertia Whitman, 1886 and redeterminations of specimens of Macrobdella (Annelida: Clitellata: Macrobdellidae) at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 129 (1): 103–113. doi:10.2988/0006-324X-129.Q2.103. ISSN 0006-324X.
  4. ^ "Macrobdella decora (Say, 1824)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  5. ^ "Macrobdella diplotertia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Macrobdella ditetra". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  7. ^ Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro; Kvist, Sebastian; Salas-Montiel, Ricardo; Phillips, Anna J. (15 August 2019). "Phylogenetic Position and Description of a New Species of Medicinal Leech from the Eastern United States". Journal of Parasitology. 105 (4): 587–597. doi:10.1645/18-119. ISSN 0022-3395. PMID 31414949.
  8. ^ "Macrobdella sestertia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.