The official portal "Wild Nature of Russia" announced the discovery of Russian and Japanese scientists who have identified a new group of endemic leeches that live exclusively in the Primorsky Territory.
During the study, two new species were identified. Both species turned out to be phylogenetically close to the leeches found on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. One of them has a large size. Adults of O. ganini Nakano et Prozorova can reach up to 17 centimeters in length.
At the moment, they are recorded only in the Lazovsky Nature Reserve.
Unlike their aquatic relatives, the discovered leeches live on land and feed on other invertebrates, not blood. These unique creatures lack teeth. They swallow the prey whole and digest it.
According to scientists, the new species require special protection, since they are able to exist only in the Far Eastern cedar-deciduous forests of low mountains that are not affected by human activity. These leeches are mainly found in the Lazovsky and Sikhote-Alinsky nature reserves, as well as, possibly, in the Call of the Tiger and Land of the Leopard national parks.
"Molecular data indicate the probability of the existence of another species of leeches in the Primorsky Territory," the report says.
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