Hirudo orientalis

Hirudo orientalis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Clade: Pleistoannelida
Clade: Sedentaria
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Order: Arhynchobdellida
Family: Hirudinidae
Genus: Hirudo
Species:
H. orientalis
Binomial name
Hirudo orientalis
Utevsky & Trontelj, 2005

Hirudo orientalis is a species of medicinal leech. It has been confused with Hirudo medicinalis, but has recently been recognized as a different species.[1][2] This Asian species is associated with mountainous areas in the subboreal eremial zone and occurs in Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It occurs also in Georgia, and probably in Armenia.[3]

  1. ^ Utevsky, S. Y., & Trontelj, P. (2005). A new species of the medicinal leech (Oligochaeta, Hirudinida, Hirudo) from Transcaucasia and an identification key for the genus Hirudo. Parasitology research, 98(1), 61-66. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-005-0017-7
  2. ^ Siddall, M. E., Trontelj, P., Utevsky, S. Y., Nkamany, M., & Macdonald, K. S. (2007). Diverse molecular data demonstrate that commercially available medicinal leeches are not Hirudo medicinalis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 274(1617), 1481-1487. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0248
  3. ^ Utevsky, S., Zagmajster, M., Atemasov, A., Zinenko, O., Utevska, O., Utevsky, A., & Trontelj, P. (2010). Distribution and status of medicinal leeches (genus Hirudo) in the Western Palaearctic: anthropogenic, ecological, or historical effects?. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 20(2), 198-210 DOI: 10.1002/aqc.1071