Erpobdella octoculata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Baturina, Maria A., Kaygorodova, Irina A. & Loskutova, Olga A., 2020, New data on species diversity of Annelida (Oligochaeta, Hirudinea) in the Kharbey lakes system, Bolshezemelskaya tundra (Russia), ZooKeys 910, pp. 43-78 : 43

63. Erpobdella octoculata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hirudo octoculata Linnaeus, 1758

Herpobdella octoculata Johansson 1910

Herpobdella octomaculata Pawlowski 1935

Geographic distribution.

Palaearctic and Nearctic regions. In tundra zone of Russia: Kharbey lakes and other lakes of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra ( Lukin 1956; Zaloznyj 1978), northern part of Western Siberia ( Zaloznyj 1984), the Yamal Peninsula ( Stepanov 2016).

Location.

No specimen in our collection from the Kharbey area. Earlier records were probably misidentified Erpobdella sp. 1 (see below).

Ecology.

This leech inhabits various types of water bodies; it is considered the most numerous Erpoddella in most Palearctic freshwater bodies. These leeches avoid of humic substances, and practically do not occur in distrophic waters. However, E. octoculata can inhabit highly polluted water bodies.