Branchellion torpedinis - parasite of the day.

In honor of the International Year of Biodiversity, my good friend and colleague Susan Perkins established a blog that designates a quaint quotidian critter as Parasite of the Day, for each and every day of 2010.

Today's entry is the enigmatic elasmobranch ectoparasite, Branchellion torpedinis (submitted by Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium).

By way of adding to his contribution, please find below here two additional pics of the beautiful frilly leech:

Industrial Leech Husbandry

A recent video piece from Reuters showcases the "International Leech Center" in Udelnaya, outside of Moscow. Alas, and uncritically, the piece gives voice to the local belief (and one that prevailed in European medicine the 1800s) that leeches are a cure-all. Among other things, we are told that they "boost the body's immune system" and "the level of endorphins". I can't find any scientific evidence of (or even studies on) the latter. And while it is true that leeches can induce an immune response, it typically is not a pleasant one. My own exposure to North American medicinal leeches induces what appears to be a delayed-type immune response leading to massive swelling in the afflicted extremity, peaking about 72 hrs after the bite.

Leeches for Learning

Anna Phillips (my student working on medicinal leech diversity) continues her considerable efforts at educating the youth of this nation on the beauty of leeches. The Mount Airy News covered her visit to J.J. Jones Intermediate School in Anna's own home town. Locally she has been involved in the after school programs here at AMNH and she also teaches as a substitute in the science program at the Spence School.

Putting leeches on a tight leash

Holly Tucker of Vanderbilt University writesa nice piece on our fine friends in the most recent New Scientist magazine. Check it out!

Forensic Leech Solves Oz Case

Eight years ago Peter Cannon tied up a 71 year old woman in her remote Tasmanian home and stole several hundred dollars in cash. Unbeknownst to Cannon, a terrestrial leech (probably Philaemon grandis, endemic to the island) that had finished feeding on him, dropped off while he was in the midst of theiving.

The case remained unsolved until forensic experts extracted DNA from the leech gut contents, and matched fingerprinting profiles to those on record for Cannon. Cannon promptly plead guilty when faced with the incriminating match.

New Leech Species from Jersey

Bill and Carol Ott found a huge leech in a ditch in their backyard in Alloway New Jersey, brought it inside and cared for it. That's a story enough in itself!! "We're just curious people," Carol Ott said.

Beth Wirchansky, a student of Dan Shain's at Rutgers, figured out it was a species new to science, and described it as Haemopis ottorum. Through molecular phylogenetic methods, Wirchansky and Shain corroborated its uniqueness and that its closest relative is Haemopis terrestris.

For the rest of the month, there is a display devoted to Haemopis ottorum, including live specimens, in the lobby of Rutgers-Camden's Science Building!

Congrats Beth.

Leeches in Creation Mythology

Last year I posted the Osage Creation Myth in which Macrobdella decora is prominent.

Remarkably, leeches appear in a wide variety of creation myths.

In the Qu'ran:
“then of that fluid-drop (nutfa) We created a leech-like clot" (Quran 23:14)
"then did he become a leech-like clot; then did (Allah) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And of him He made two sexes, male and female.”(Quran 75: 37-39).

In the creation myth of the Bengali Munda people in India, the benevolent Sun god Sing-Bonga is married to the Moon and brings forth a tortoise, a crab and a leech to create the land by bringing up soil from the sea bed. – Dalton (1872: Descriptive ethnology of Bengal, p 197). "SingBonga ordered them to bring a lump of clay (hasa) from the depth of ocean. The tortoise and the crab failed to do it. The leech went deep and deep to the ocean and finally found bit clay from the depths of the ocean and gifted it to the Supreme Sing Bonga. SingBonga by his power transformed the bit of clay into the earth. "

In Shinto creation mythology "After the sun and moon, the next child Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto gave birth to was the leech-child. When this child had completed his third year, he was nevertheless still unable to stand upright." Alternatively: "The child which was born to them was Hiruko (the leech-child), which when three years old was still unable to stand upright. So they placed the leech-child in a boat of reeds and let it float away."