Placobdella hollensis

source: si.edu

ABSTRACT: Confusion regarding the identification of Placobdella hollensis (Whitman, 1892)

(Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae), has led to an unclear understanding of the distribution of the

species. Two specimens of P. hollensis were collected from Merchants Millpond State Park,

Gates County, North Carolina, U.S.A. representing a new geographic distribution record.

Specimens were confirmed as P. hollensis by morphological and molecular study. Specimens of
P. hollensis from North Carolina, U.S.A. had accessory eyes, two thin paramedial dark lines, 3
pair of pre-anal papillae, and molecular comparison of CO-I sequence data revealed a 99.0% to
99.7% similarity to specimens of P. hollensis collected from its type locality (Barnstable County,
Massachusetts, U.S.A.). From confirmed specimens of P. hollensis, this report supports the
assertion that P. hollensis has an Atlantic coastal distribution.
KEY WORDS: Rhychobdellida, Hirudinea, Clitellata, Glossiphoniidae, Placobdella hollensis,
Clepsine, North Carolina, leech
Placobdella hollensis (Whitman, 1892) is distinct among its congeners in its possession
of accessory eye spots. Nevertheless, there has been confusion regarding the distribution of P.
hollensis. Placobdella hollensis was described by Whitman (1892) based on material collected
from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Moore (1906) transferred the species to the genus
Placobdella based upon a specimen collected from Rondeau, Ontario, Canada. Despite the
etymology of the specific epithet hollensis (meaning from Holl in reference to Woods Hole,
Massachusetts. U.S.A.) the scientific literature had applied a Great Lakes origin to the species
(see Moser et al., 2014). Sawyer (1972) had included only Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, U.S.A.
and Ontario, Canada in a list of published distribution records for P. hollensis. Klemm (1991)
called P. hollensis an uncommon, cold-water species usually occurring in permanent ponds in
the Great Lakes region. After contemporary leeches collected from the type locality of
Coonamessett Pond, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, U.S.A. were determined to be
conspecific with P. hollensis, Moser et al. (2014) redescribed P. hollensis, designated a neotype
(MCZ 20404), and suggested the species had an Atlantic coastal distribution.
In the course of faunistic studies on the leeches of the eastern United States, 2 specimens
of P. hollensis were collected on 8 August, 2014 from underneath submerged substrata in
Merchants Millpond State Park, Gates County, North Carolina, U.S.A. (36°25’56”N
076°41’52”W) representing a new geographic distribution record. Voucher specimens were
prepared as described by Moser et al. (2006) and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution,
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. (USNM 1422201) and the Peabody
Museum of Natural History at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (YPM IZ 90153).
Molecular analyses were conducted according to Richardson et al. (2010). Purified PCR products
were sequenced using the HCO2198 primer and the LCO1490 primer for the Cytochrome c
oxidase subunit I products by the W. M. Keck Foundation Biotechnology Resource Laboratory
at Yale University. The DNA sequences were aligned using Clustal W version 2 (Larkin et al.,
2007), checked manually using SeaView 4 (Gouy et al., 2010), and then analyzed using PAUP\*
4.0b10 (Swofford, 2002), deposited in GenBank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/), and
compared to other leech DNA sequences contained within Genbank. Uncorrected p distance was
calculated using PAUP\*.
Table 1 and Figure 1 summarize all previous confirmed reports and the new North
Carolina, U.S.A. locality record of P. hollensis. The 2 specimens were morphologically and
molecularly confirmed to be P. hollensis. The North Carolina, U.S.A. P. hollensis specimens had
accessory eyes, two thin paramedial dark lines, and 3 pair of pre-anal papillae (Figure 2).
Molecular comparison of 626 nucleotides of CO-I revealed intraspecific differences of 0.3% –
1.0% (2 – 6 nucleotides) between two specimens of P. hollensis collected from Merchant’s
Millpond State Park, North Carolina, U.S.A. (GenBank KY741539 - KY741540) and four
specimens of P. hollensis collected from the type locality (Massachusetts, U.S.A.; GenBank
KF771652–KF771655). The specimens of P. hollensis from Merchant’s Millpond State Park,
North Carolina, U.S.A. are 99.0% to 99.7% similar to P. hollensis specimens collected from its
type locality (Barnstable County, Massachusetts, U.S.A.). The identifications of legacy museum
(MCZ, USNM and YPM) specimens of P. hollensis were confirmed by morphological analysis.
This report supports the assertion of Moser et al. (2014) that P. hollensis has an Atlantic coastal
distribution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Merchant’s Millpond State Park (MMSP) for permission to collect leeches and are
grateful for MMSP Ranger Jane Wyche’s helpful discussions and assistance. We thank Lourdes
Rojas (Division of Invertebrate Zoology, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University)
for valuable assistance in specimen management and Dr. Maria Aliberti-Lubertazzi (Rhode
Island School of Design) and Scott Comings (The Nature Conservancy, Block Island) for
assistance with unpublished literature and New England localities. Any use of trade, product, or
firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S.
Government.
LITERATURE CITED
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A Guide to the Freshwater Annelida (Polychaeta, Naidid and Tubificid Oligochaeta, and
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Larkin, M.A., G. Blackshields, N.P. Brown, R. Chenna, P.A. McGettigan, H. McWilliam, F.
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Higgins. 2007. CLUSTAL W and CLUSTAL X version 2.0. Bioinformatics
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Moore, J.P. 1906. Hirudinea and Oligochaeta collected in the Great Lakes region. U. S. Bureau
of Fisheries Bulletin 25(1905):153-172.
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Daniels. 2006. Leeches (Annelida: Hirudinida) of northern Arkansas. Journal of the
Arkansas Academy of Science 60: 84-95.
Moser, W.E., D.J. Richardson, C. I. Hammond, and E. Lazo-Wasem. 2014. Redescription
and Molecular Characterization of Placobdella hollensis (Whitman, 1892) (Hirudinida:
Glossiphoniidae). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 55(1): 49-54.
Richardson, D. J., W. E. Moser, C. I. Hammond, A. C. Shevchenko, and E. Lazo-Wasem.
2010. New geographic distribution records and host specificity of Placobdella ali
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Geographic Distribution Records for Glossiphoniid Leeches Associated with Turtles in
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FIGURE LEGENDS
Table 1. Previous Confirmed Reports and New Locality Record of Placobdella hollensis
(Whitman, 1892) (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae).
Figure 1. Distribution of Placobdella hollensis (Whitman, 1892) (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae)
(circle: new records, triangle: published localities, star: type locality), inset New England at
higher magnification.
Figure 2. Dorsal surface of preserved specimen of Placobdella hollensis (Whitman, 1892)
(Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae) illustrating the accessory eyes (arrows) and two thin paramedial
dark lines (arrowheads). USNM 1422201. Scale bar equals 3 mm