![]() ( d, f) Central regions of inner sucker surfaces. ( c, e) Marginal regions of inner sucker surfaces. ( c– f) SEM images of the inner surfaces of both suction organs showing furrows (black arrows) and gland-like structures (white arrows). The retracted velum of the anterior sucker exposes the three jaws and the oral cavity. ( a, b) LM images of attached anterior and posterior suckers. The figure shows light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the anterior ( a, c, d) and posterior ( b, e, f) suction discs of H. Morphology of medicinal leech suction discs. A characteristic morphological feature of the posterior attachment organ is a joint-like constriction between itself and the rest of the body providing the leech with high moving flexibility. The posterior suction disc consists of the last seven body segments and does not possess an orifice ( figure 1 b). The central mouth opening is sealed by a velum behind which the retractable tripartite jaw apparatus is positioned. The anterior sucker additionally enables for feeding and consists of the ventral halves of the first four body segments that form a muscular and glandular suction cup ( figure 1 a). īoth the anterior and posterior suction disc participates in the animal's movement towards and attachment to the host, e.g. They also play an important role as model organisms in many biological research fields due to their physiologically and biochemically multifunctional saliva and their well-developed nervous and sensory systems. The majority of the medically used leeches worldwide belong to the species Hirudo verbana (Carena 1820). Today, these freshwater annelids experience an increasing importance in several medicinal fields, e.g. ![]() ![]() Medicinal leeches are often negatively connoted with their extensive medical misuse over decades which stigmatized them to be blood-sucking, disease-transmitting ectoparasites.
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