Biodiversity of the Buffalo Leeches Genus (Arhynchobdellida, Hirudinidae) in Southern Thailand Revealed from DNA Barcoding.

Leeches in the genus Whitman, 1886, also known as buffalo leeches, are blood-sucking ectoparasites of vertebrates. Although they are widely distributed in Asia and had been highly abundant in the past, studies on diversity and taxonomy of this genus are still scarce. There is probably a large amount of cryptic diversity yet to be discovered, particularly from mainland Southeast Asia.

A new species of buffalo leech in the genus Whitman, 1886 (Arhynchobdellida, Hirudinidae) from Thailand.

(Lesson, 1842), commonly known as the buffalo leech, shows a polymorphism of two ventral colorations. The green color morph has a plain green ventral surface and the red color morph has a brick-red ventral surface with two black submarginal stripes. Based on molecular and morphological evidence in the present study, these two color morphs were revealed as two different species.