A complete collection of pictures of medicinal leeches

Abstract: leeches, the scientific name of leeches, are invertebrates of the family hirudidae. There are 400 million species in the world and about 100 species in China. 89 species have been found, most of which live in fresh water, some terrestrial and amphibious, a few living in salt water, and some terrestrial and amphibious. Let's take a look at the complete picture of medicinal leeches.

Leeches, the scientific name of leeches, belong to the invertebrates of the family hirudidae. There are 400 million species in the world and about 100 in China. 89 species have been found, most of which live in fresh water, some terrestrial and amphibious, a few living in salt water, and some terrestrial and amphibious. Let's take a look at the complete picture of medicinal leeches.

Wide-bodied golden leech

Wide-body golden leech is the main breed in China at present, which is large and flat, spindle-shaped, convex on the back, ventral, thin at the front and obtusely round at the back. The adult body is 6-15 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. The back is usually dark green, with five vertical stripes made up of black and yellowish markings, a yellowish white belly, and many irregular dark green spots. The male and female reproductive foramen were separated and opened in the center of the ring. The male foramen opened between 33 and 34 body rings, and the female foramen opened between 38 and 39 body rings. There are 10 eyes arranged in an arc on the back of the head underdeveloped palatine teeth insignificant anterior sucker and large posterior sucker with strong adsorption and anal opening on the back of the last two rings. It mainly absorbs the blood of animals, as well as plankton and mollusk larvae in the water. The main characteristics of wide-body golden leeches are large individual, fast growth, high reproduction rate and easy to catch.

Anoplophora acuminata

Sharp and thin gold thread vermiculite alias tea leech, willow leaf leech, etc., the body is slender, lanceolate, the head is very small. The front end is sharp and thin, and the back half is the broadest. The length of the body is 28-67 mm and the width is 3.5-8 mm. The back of the tail sucker is tea-brown and has vertical stripes composed of 6 yellowish brown or black markings. Each longitudinal pattern seems to have a white mastoid on the central ring of each segment. The melanin on the back is regularly enlarged. There is a yellow longitudinal band on each side of the body. The ventral surface is grayish yellow, and there is a band with dark brown spots on both sides. The male reproductive foramen is located in the 35th ring and the female reproductive foramen in the 40th ring. The anus is located at the boundary between the 105th ring and the caudal sucker, the anterior sucker is very small, and the mouth hole is in front of its posterior edge. Feeding on water earthworms and insect larvae, the underdeveloped jaw can pierce the skin, but cannot suck blood.

Japanese medical leech

Japanese medical vermiculite body is narrow and long, slightly cylindrical, and the dorsal abdomen is slightly flattened: the front end is blunt and round, and the back end is thick. It is 3-5 cm long, 0.4-0.5 cm wide and weighs about 5 grams. The back is dark green, there are 5 yellow vertical lines, the back is flat, there are no miscellaneous markings. There are 103 rings in the body, and the grooves of rings 6 ~ 7 and 8 ~ 9 disappear on the ventral surface, making them into two rings, and the former ring forms the posterior edge of the anterior sucker. 5 pairs of eyes, large and conspicuous, arranged in an arc on the dorsal side of 2-6 segments. The reproductive band was not significant and occupied 15 rings (that is 26 ~ 40 rings). Both male and female reproductive foramen are sunken, the penis is slender, the anus is in the back of ring 103, the tail suction disk is bowl-shaped, facing to the ventral side, and there are extended body back stripes on the back. It mainly sucks the blood of human beings and animals, and it is mainly fish and other animal blood in nature, so it is not easy to raise it artificially in large areas. In medicine, it is mostly used in vivo, not to process drugs. There is a great demand for medical leeches abroad, but they must be alive.

Light-embellish golden thread leech

The vermiculite of the glossy gold thread is slightly spindle-shaped and gradually tapers in front. The back is wide and round, the posterior half of the body width does not change much, and the tail sucker is smaller, which is about 1 big 3 of the body width. The reproductive band is at 10-13 nodes, and this part of the mature individual is obviously enlarged. The length is generally 32-81 mm and the body width is 5-12 mm. The back is usually brown with five yellow longitudinal lines, with the broadest pair in the middle of the side. The body is divided into 105 rings, with the anus in the back of the last ring. The head has 5 pairs of eyes, and the front sucker is small. The orifice is in front of its trailing edge. The body is small, and its living habits are similar to those of wide-bodied golden leeches. It often feeds on snails (field snails, vertebral snails) and insect larvae, with small reproduction and low yield, so it is not suitable for artificial large-scale breeding.

Bar-striped leech

The length of the rod-shaped bdelloid body is 100 mm 160 mm, the largest is 225 mm, the maximum width of the body is 10 mm 19 mm, and the diameter of the rear sucker is 10 mm 19 mm, which is often equal to the maximum width of the body. The body has 103 rings. There are 5 pairs of eye spots, which are located on the dorsal side of the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 9th body rings. The male and female reproductive foramen are separated by 7 rings-the color of the body surface is extremely bright, with grass green on the back and grayish green or brick red on the ventral side. There is a dark brown longitudinal stripe in the center of the back, extending from the front to the anal foramen, breaking into 22 bar stripes, and a ribbon horizontal stripe on the front and side of the body, showing brownish yellow or bronze color, so it is called "copper edge leech". The living habits and contractual functions of leeches are similar to those of wide-bodied leeches, and they are large in size, high in yield and easy to raise, so leeches can also be cultured on a large scale as an excellent breed of artificial culture.