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Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758 | ||
| Familia | Hirudinidae | |
| Ordo | Arhynchobdellida | |
| Classis | Hirudinea | |
| Typus | Annelida | |
| Summary | A Palearctic species, widely distributed in Poland, excluding the Carpathians and the Sudety Mts. It inhabits small stagnant water bodies, small ditches and slow streams running through cultivated fields and forests, often on marshy grounds. This external bloodsucking parasite of vertebrates and humans was for centuries used for medical purposes. At the turn of the 19th century it was strongly decimated in various European regions. In Poland, in the last 40 years scarce populations of this species were noted in rather numerous localities. This leech is endangered due to commercial collectorship and degradation of its natural habitats, as well as to reduced abundance of its hosts. | |
| Literature | Buczyński P. 2003c. Nowe stanowiska pijawki lekarskiej, Hirudo medicinalis. Chrońmy przyr. ojcz. 59, 3: 86-87.  Hajduk D. 1979. Nowe stanowiska Hirudo medicinalis L. w Polsce. Przegl. zool. 23, 4: 325-326. Lukin E.I. 1976. Fauna SSSR. Pijavki. T. 1, Izd. "Nauka", Leningrad, 484 pp. Minkin B.I. 1990. Leeches in Modern Medicine. Carolina Tips, 53, 2: 5-6 Pawłowski L.K. 1936. Pijawki (Hirudinea). Fauna słodkowodna Polski, Warszawa, 2: 1-176. Pawłowski L.K. 1968. Pijawki. Hirudinea. Katalog fauny Polski. XI. PWN, Warszawa, 3: 1-94. Wells S.M., Coombes W. 1987. The Status of and Trade in the Medicinal Leech. Traffic Bulletin, Wildlife Trade Monitoring Unit, IUCN, 8, 4: 64-69. | |
| Author | Teresa Jażdżewska & Jolanta Wiedeńska | |
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