Haemopis marmorata Say 1824

Haemopis marmorata (Say 1824)

Synonym: Percymoorensis marmorata (Say 1824)

Common name: American horse-leech

General distribution: Nearctic (Figures 2 E, 3C, Table 1).

Newfoundland: Survey: site 17 (CMNA 2006–0024), identified by the presence of teeth and the color of the ventrum which is characteristically mottled or spotted but lighter than the dorsum. No lateral stripe. Stomach contents of CMNA 2006–0024 included 1 juvenile erpobdellid leech, and Cladocera (Bosmina sp.); Literature: Blanchard (1896) 3 specimens from Newfoundland; Pawlowski (1948) at Corner Brook and Deer Lake; Gates and Moore (1970) from Lily Pond.

St-Pierre and Miquelon Islands: Literature: Blanchard (1896): St-Pierre (21 specimens); Miquelon (34 specimens).

Notes on the species. Pawlowski (1948) discusses Blanchard’s (1896) report of Haemopis collected by Leguillou in 1838 from an unknown location on Newfoundland, as well as a collection by Dr. Kermorganat in St-Pierre and Miquelon. Blanchard identified these specimens as the Eurasian Haemopis sanguisuga Linnaeus but Pawlowski identified Blanchard’s specimens as typical North American Haemopis marmorata. Blanchard (1896) pointed out that prolapsus of the rectum in the Newfoundland specimen was never before noticed in Europe. Pawlowski (1948) agrees, and notes that this condition occurs rarely but only in North America. The closeup of specimen CMNA 2006–0024 illustrates this condition (Figure 2 F). JM also re-examined Blanchard’s specimens from the Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris in 1982 which have become dessicated and hard, and unsuitable for further comment.