GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION OF THE GIANT GLOSSIPHONIID LEECH HAEMENTERIA GHILIANII

¹ Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
² Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer Cayenne 973, French Guyana

A continuously breeding laboratory colony of the giant leech Haementeria ghilianii has been established from a few specimens collected in French Guyana. The leeches feed on live rabbits or bovine blood, which they draw from an artifical feeding device. Leech growth is saltatory, in that at each of four successive feedings, spaced over about half a year, the weight of each specimen increases 3- to 6-fold. The male reproductive system of this hermaphroditic leech matures first, at a body weight of 3-5 g. The female reproductive system matures after at least one more feeding, at a body weight of at least 8 g. Fecundity (number of eggs per laying) depends on the weight of the leech at the time of oviposition, increasing from 60 for the smallest mature individuals to 500 for the largest. These data on the growth and reproduction of H. ghilianii gathered under laboratory conditions are consistent with its probable life cycle in the native habitat.

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