ヒル類の形態とその用語

概要

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Leeches (subclass Hirudinida) are very famous as blood-suckers. But taxonomic studies of leeches in Japan have been scarcely advanced after Dr. Asajiro Oka's death. In addition, Japanese morphological terms of leeches have been also confused for a long time. Therefore, this paper clarifies their Japanese morphological terms with briefly reviewing their morphology for the purpose of improving the taxonomic studies of leeches in Japan. Leeches possess two suckers and 34 somites with subdivided annuli. They have eyes and an anus on dorsal, and a male and female gonopore on ventral. Their internal morphology, such as digestive system or reproductive system, is as important as their external morphology for the taxonomy of leeches. Haematophagous species have crop and intestinal ceca for storing and digesting blood. In contrast, macrophagous taxa, like Erpobdelliformes, have simple tubular digestive system. They have the male and female reproductive system located ventral to the digestive system. Each Japanese term is connected with English equivalents and illustrations in this paper in order to prevent further confusion of the Japanese morphological terms.
日本動物分類学会の論文
2010-08-20