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Date & Time : 19, April 2024 00:29
Common name:- Indian cattle leech.
Habit and habitat:- It is a fresh water species, sanguivorous ectoparasite, lives in ponds, lakes and swamos.
Distribution:- cosmopolitan distribution. But mainly found in India and Burma.
Food:- It feeds on blood of frog, animals and men.
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS:-
- Body- Body is soft, vermiform and dorsoventrally flattened, elongated and segmented
- Body lenght- It is about 30-35 cm long.
- Segments- It consists of 33 segments. Each segment is furthe diivided into 5 annuli.
- Body division- Body is divided into cephalic, preclitellar, clitellar, middle, caudal and posterior sucker regions.
- Suckers- Ther are two types of well developed suckers namely
- Anterior sucker
- Posterior sucker
- Anterior sucker- It is oval in shape and formed by the fusion of prostomium and few anterior segments. It contain tri-radiate mouth.
- Posterior sucker- It acts as powerful locomotary and adhesive organ. It is highly muscular.
- It also contain eyes ( 5 pairs), receptor organs ( 7 pairs- 4 pair dorsal and 3 pair ventral).
- Anus- It is located on 26th segment.
- Hermaphrodite Sexual reproduction occurs.
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