The Hirudo medicinalis species complex

Recently, Hildebrandt and Lemke (Naturwissenschaften 98:995-1008, 2011) argued that the taxonomic status of the three European medicinal leeches, Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus 1758, Hirudo verbana Carena 1820, and Hirudo orientalis Utevsky and Trontelj (Parasitol Res 98:61-66, 2005) is "questionable" since "all three species interbreed in the laboratory". This statement is in conflict with data published by Elliott and Kutschera (Freshwater Reviews 4:21-41, 2011), indicating that these leeches, which are reciprocally copulating hermaphrodites, represent reproductively isolated biospecies. Here, I summarize evidence indicating that these three European taxa, plus the North African "dragon leech" (Hirudo troctina Johnson 1816), must be interpreted as a complex of closely related species, and that the economically most important taxon H. verbana is polymorphic.

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

This paper argues that the three European medicinal leeches Hirudo medicinalis, H. verbana, and H. orientalis, together with the North African H. troctina, constitute a complex of closely related but reproductively isolated species, with H. verbana noted as polymorphic.

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