Ceylan, Mustafa Mediterranean Fisheries Research Production and Training Institute - Eğirdir Unite, Turkey , Erbatur, İsmail Mediterranean Fisheries Research Production and Training Institute - Eğirdir Unite, Turkey

A study on nutrition of medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820): Cannibalism?

14457

It was aimed to investigate the behavior of the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana during and after feeding in the artificial conditions with this study. The leeches were fed with fresh cattle blood, and weight gain occurred at the rate of 97.74% using by bulk weighing after the feeding. Some leeches which were not fed enough, attacked to the some satiated leeches which have lost their ability to move partially, and they demonstrated cannibalistic tendency, but the cannibalism wasn’t occurred clearly. It was observed that some leeches vomited the certain portion of the blood even 66 days after the feeding. This vomited blood caused to stimulate the some leeches, but the stimulated leeches acted uninterested and moved away from the region after the short-term investigation of vomited blood. It was thought that the problems which originated from the potential cannibalism tendency of the medicinal leech H. verbana can be avoided by the creation of periodic feeding groups, stimulating of the all leeches to make them ready for feeding and placing the satiated and insufficient fed individuals in different environments after the feeding in the breeding conditions.

167

Medicinal Leech , Hirudo verbana , Feeding Behavior , Cannibalism Tendency , Vomiting Blood

Ege Journal Of Fisheries an‎d Aquatic Sciences

170