Hirudo Leeches and Science

Optimization of Growth Conditions of Hirudinea sp.

Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(3): 268-275, 2011 ISSN 1991-8178

Optimization of Growth Conditions of Hirudinea sp.

Zulhisyam A.K,, A. Anwar Ismail and Ibrahim Che Omar

Department of Agro Industry, Faculty of Agro Industry and Natural Resources, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Pengkalan Chepa, 16100, Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

Abstract: Leeches (Phylum: Annelida, Class: Hirudinea) are widely distributed all over the world in various habitats, such as freshwater, seas, desert, and oases (Gouda, 2006). In this study, the effect of light intensity, temperature and diet on the reproductive efficiency of Hirudinea sp. was examined with eight different conditions....

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Reproductive biology and ecological strategies of three species of medicinal Hirudo leeches

Journal of Natural History

Vol. 45, Nos. 11–12, March 2011, 737–747

Reproductive biology and ecological strategies of three species of medicinal leeches (genus Hirudo)

Laima Petrauskiene ̇a, Olga Utevskab and Serge Utevskyc*

aInstitute of Ecology, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania; bDepartment of Genetics and Cytology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine; cDepartment of Zoology and Animal Ecology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

(Received 9 May 2010; final version received 26 October 2010; printed 4 February 2011)

An analysis of the reproduction of three species of medicinal leeches (genus Hirudo) was carried out....

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Medicinal leeches 'are the wrong kind'

Scientists have discovered that a case of mistaken identity means that "medicinal leeches" which have been used by doctors for centuries are not officially approved for medicine.

As well as the doctors who use them today in plastic surgery, numerous researchers who have studied the medicinal leech have also been using a different kind of blood sucker from the one they thought,...

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