Abstract
Specimens of the North American leech, Placobdella ornata (Verrill, 1872) were confirmed from the Donkmeer, a freshwater lake in the
province of East Flanders, Belgium, by morphological and molecular analysis. Leech specimens from Belgium were morphologically
consistent with the syntype series and description of P. ornata by Verrill (1872). Molecular comparison of the Belgian specimens to
specimens of P. ornata from the type locality (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene
revealed a similarity of 99.5%. Placobdella ornata from Belgium is the first documentation of a second species of the genus Placobdella in
Europe.
province of East Flanders, Belgium, by morphological and molecular analysis. Leech specimens from Belgium were morphologically
consistent with the syntype series and description of P. ornata by Verrill (1872). Molecular comparison of the Belgian specimens to
specimens of P. ornata from the type locality (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene
revealed a similarity of 99.5%. Placobdella ornata from Belgium is the first documentation of a second species of the genus Placobdella in
Europe.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | BioInvasions Records |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 185-188 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12-Jun-2015 |
Taxonomic list
- bristle worms (Polychaeta)
Policy
- aquatic management
Geographic list
- Europe
Technological
- fieldwork (observations and sampling)