Leech (Annelida: Hirudinea) Infestations on Canadian Turtles, Including the First Canadian Record of <em>Helobdella modesta</em> from Freshwater Turtles

Abstract

We collected leeches from freshwater turtles at two sites in southwestern Ontario. Five leech species (Placobdella parasitica, P. ornata, Helobdella modesta, Erpobdella punctata and Alboglossiphonia heteroclita) were collected from five turtle species (Chrysemys picta, Chelydra serpentina, Clemmys guttata, Emydoidea blandingii and Sternotherus odoratus). We report a new leech record (P. ornata) for C. guttata. The unexpectedly high frequency of H. modesta on freshwater turtles is discussed.

Freshwater mussels house a diverse mussel-associated leech assemblage

“…montifera Moore, 1906Facultative inhabitant of the mantle cavity of freshwater musselsLong Point, Canada 76 Widespread throughout USA and Canada 13 Secondary host and shelter (facultative): freshwater mussels Amblema , Cyclonaias , Fusconaia , Glebula , Lampsilis , Leptodea , Obliquaria , Potamilus , Pyganodon , Utterbackiana (Unionidae: Ambleminae) 1,10–12 ; primary host: freshwater fishes Acipenser , Scaphirhynchus (Acipenseridae), Perca (Percidae), Lepomis , Micropterus (Centrarchidae), Lepisosteus (Lepisosteidae), Ameiurus (Ictaluridae), Moxostoma (Catostomidae), Cyprinus (Cyprinidae), and common musk turtle Stenotherus odoratus (Kinosternidae) 10,13 P . parasitica (Say, 1824)Facultative inhabitant of the mantle cavity of freshwater mussels 1 The lakes of the north-western region [of North America] 77 North-central and eastern USA and southern Canada 13,78 Secondary host and shelter (facultative): unspecified freshwater mussels (Unionidae: Ambleminae) 1 ; primary host: at least 10 freshwater turtle species 72,78 , occasional records from the tadpoles of Lithobates pipiens (Ranidae) and a freshwater fish 72 Genus Batracobdelloides Oosthuizen, 1986 B . conchophylus sp.…”

Some like it cold: the glossiphoniid parasites of the Sicilian endemic pond turtleEmys trinacris(Testudines, Emydidae), an example of ‘parasite inertia’?

“…In the light of the available observations on the occurrence of H. modesta occurring on Chrysemys picta (Schneider 1783) and Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus 1758) (Davy et al. ), and on H. europaea occurring on Emys orbicularis (Reyes‐Prieto et al. ), it was suspected that the leech genus Helobdella might in fact present some kind of trophic relationships with pond turtles.…”

“…The finding of several specimens of H. stagnalis on Emys trinacris is the first account for such a relationship between this species and Emys pond turtles. In the light of the available observations on the occurrence of H. modesta occurring on Chrysemys picta (Schneider 1783) and Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus 1758) (Davy et al 2009), and on H. europaea occurring on Emys orbicularis (Reyes-Prieto et al 2013), it was suspected that the leech genus Helobdella might in fact present some kind of trophic relationships with pond turtles. However, the molecular identification of the stomach content of the Helobdella stagnalis specimens occurring on Emys trinacris unequivocally proved that these leeches are actually not feeding on the pond turtles and that they were rather attached to the turtles for other, non-nutritional reasons.…”

“…In addition to these genera, some species of the genus Helobdella Blanchard 1896, although often considered a purely predatory taxon, are known to occasionally feed on poikilothermic vertebrates as fish, amphibians and, dubitatively, reptiles (e.g. Davy et al 2009;Tiberti and Gentili 2010).…”

“…Tiberti and Gentili 2010;Kutschera et al 2010; and references therein). Furthermore, H. modesta (Verril 1872) and H. europaea were occasionally reported to occur on aquatic turtles (Davy et al 2009;Reyes-Prieto et al 2013), although it was never verified whether the leeches were actually feeding on the turtles or they were in fact gaining some other non-nutritional benefit from attaching to them.…”