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Project Noah Nature School
Unidentified terrestrial leech flailing (sensing and seeking) in response to my presence. Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. This specimen is a member of the jawed land leeches. These annelids are known from subtropical and tropical regions around the Indian and Pacific Ocean. There are about 90 land species. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudinea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemadipsid... >
Spotted on the forest floor along a transect in secondary coastal lowland mixed freshwater swamp forest/sago swamp forest.
These leeches remind me of a miniature elephant trunk that moves position like an inchworm. It is constantly flailing around sensing for a blood source (hence the blurry photograph). This one didn't get me, but his brothers/sisters did (--leeches are hermaphroditic).
Spotted on Jun 14, 2012
Submitted on Jun 19, 2012
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