Erpobdella octoculata Linnaeus 1758

Erpobdella octoculata (Linnaeus, 1758)

(Fig. 9 and Plate III 2 A,B&C)

Material examined. Youzbashchai river, Qazvin-Rasht road, (N 36° 24΄ 42.8˝, E 49° 29΄ 381˝), 1012m, ZUTC 6011. Taham spring, Zanjan, (N 36° 43΄ 25.5˝, E 48° 46΄ 39.1˝), 1923m, ZUTC 6013. Mousabolaghi spring, Zanjan, (N 36° 9΄ 31.5˝, E 48° 36΄ 5.4˝), 1877m, ZUTC 6014. Sarein, Biledargh, Ardabil, (N 38° 11΄ E 48° 03΄), 1797m, ZUTC 6015. Miandoab, between Bashbolakha and Esmaeel Kandi villages, (N 36° 3΄ 8˝, E 46° 6΄ 3˝), 1314m, ZUTC 6018. Choghakhor wetland, Chaharmahal-va-Bakhtiari, (N 31° 56΄ 21.6˝, E 50° 54΄ 7.9˝), 2204m, ZUTC 6043. Chahkandouk, Berezj village, Sarbishe-Zahedan road, Khorasan Jonoubi, (N 32° 46´33.9½, E 59° 26´58.1½), 1844m, ZUTC (5997). Gokan, Cheshmeh Reza Kahriz, near Azarshahr, Azerbaijan Gharbi, (N 37° 46΄ 26˝, E 45° 57΄ 08.2˝), 1368m, ZUTC 6066. Ghare Kelisa, Ghezelchai river, Chaldoran road, Azerbaijan Gharbi, (N 39° 05΄ 35˝, E 44° 32΄ 42.2˝), 1881m, ZUTC 6063 (Fig. 1).

General distribution and habitats. Widely distributed in Palaearctic region. Well known from western, central and northern Europe and scarcely reported in Mediterranean region. Also present in Italy, Greece and Balkans and not known from Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean islands. In addition, Expanding eastward, from Anatolia, the upper Euphrates in Turkey and Caucasus (Nesemann & Neubert 1999) and reported by Grosser & Pešić (2006) from western, south western, north eastern and central part of Iran and Salimi et al. (2011) from western Iran. Living in shallow mountainous running waters and usually found attached to underside of stones, leaves, tree branches or plastics near the banks of streams or springs with their oval shape amber colored cocoons.

Descriptive features and remarks. Small to medium sized flattened leeches (30 to 50 mm). Anterior conical. Small anterior sucker. Posterior sucker slightly smaller than the maximum body width. Lateral keels present in post-clitellar region. Genital pores separated by 2.5 to 3 annuli. Dorsally, greenish yellow or reddish brown. A reticulate pattern with visible yellow spots on each annulus, as a typical dorsal pattern. Dorsal pattern sometimes with a random distribution of dark patches and dots or absent in some cases. Ventrally, uni-colored yellowish or reddish brown.