A new species of buffalo leech in the genusWhitman, 1886 (Arhynchobdellida, Hirudinidae) from Thailand.

Hirudinaria manillensis (Lesson, 1842), commonly known as the buffalo leech, shows a polymorphism of two ventral colorations. The green color morph has a plain green ventral surface and the red color morph has a brick-red ventral surface with two black submarginal stripes. Based on molecular and morphological evidence in the present study, these two color morphs were revealed as two different species. The red color morph fits well with the description of H. manillensis, while the green color morph showed some distinctions, and therefore is described herein as Hirudinaria thailandica Jeratthitikul & Panha, sp. nov. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the dark greenish or dark olive ventral surface and a round atrium with ventral insertion of ejaculatory ducts in the male reproductive organ. A phylogenetic tree based on concatenated data of COI and 28S genes supported the new species and further indicated it as a sister species to H. bpling Phillips, 2012.

Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.

(Lesson, 1842), commonly known as the buffalo leech, shows a polymorphism of two ventral colorations. The green color morph has a plain green ventral surface and the red color morph has a brick-red ventral surface with two black submarginal stripes.

Explore how this research connects to clinical practice

More peer-reviewed studies in Salivary Pharmacology.

• Novel Leech Antimicrobial Peptides — Hirunipins — Kumar et al. (2025)
• 434 Salivary Proteins — Integrated Proteomics of Hirudo medicinalis — Liu et al. (2019)
• Medicinal Leech Genome Assembly — Anticoagulant Gene Catalog — Kvist et al. (2020)
• Effects of hirudotherapy on liver functions, lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity in rats with metabolic syndrome — Bilden A et al. (2026)
• [Research progress in hirudin fusion protein--review] — Zhang C et al. (2007)
• A unique proteolytic fragment of human fibrinogen containing the A alpha COOH-terminal domain of the native molecule — Kirschbaum NE, Budzynski AZ (1990)
• Updates on Use and Monitoring of Direct Thrombin Inhibitors — Navaei A et al. (2026)
• Production and functional characteristics of a novel hirudin variant with better anticoagulant activities than bivalirudin — Ge P et al. (2025)
• Traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease: the mechanisms of signaling pathways regulations — Li W et al. (2026)
• Prostaglandin E1 is an efficient molecular tool for forest leech blood sucking — Zheng F et al. (2021)

Browse all ASH-analysed research →