The Kinabalu giant red leech (''Mimobdella buettikoferi'') is a large bright orange-red coloured

leech Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodie ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( ms, Gunung Kinabalu, Dusun language, Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu'') is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is List of islands by highest point, third-highest peak of an island on Eart ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. It can grow to a length of over .

Etymology

The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was collected by Johann Büttikofer, and the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''buettikoferi'' is derived from his surname.

Ecology

The Kinabalu leech is not

hematophagic Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα ' "blood" and φαγεῖν ' "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious pro ...

and feeds only on worms such as the

Kinabalu giant earthworm The Kinabalu giant earthworm, ''Pheretima darnleiensis'', is a grey-blue coloured peregrine annelid. It is found widely in Southeast Asia, primarily in the Indo-Australasian Archipelago (e.g., Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, the ...

, ''Pheretima darnleiensis''. It lives in the damp

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

and soil that often accumulates in fissures. It can be found in Kinabalu Park at an elevation of where the trail runs over a rocky outcrop near to the Mempening and

Paka Cave Paka may refer to: Places Europe * Paka (river), a river in northern Slovenia * Paka, Mislinja, a settlement in the Municipality of Mislinja, Slovenia * Paka pri Predgradu, a settlement in the Municipality of Kočevje, Slovenia * Paka pri Ve ...

shelters. It is usually seen during or after heavy downpours. Phillipps, A. & F. Liew 2000. ''Globetrotter Visitor's Guide – Kinabalu Park''. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.

Taxonomy

Kinabalu giant red leech is currently classified under the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mimobdella ''Mimobdella'' is a genus of leeches Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and lik ...

'' of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Salifidae Salifidae is a family of annelids belonging to the order Arhynchobdellida. Genera: * '' Barbronia'' Johansson, 1918 * '' Linta'' Westergren & Siddall, 2004 * '' Lumbricobdella'' Kennel, 1886 * '' Mimobdella'' * '' Odontobdella'' * '' Salifa'' B ...

. However Nakano (2011) has questioned its inclusion within the genus (as well as that of '' Mimobdella thienemani''). The internal and external morphological characteristics of these two species do not fit the generic diagnostic criteria as established by the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

and the only other species in the genus, '' Mimobdella japonica''.

References

External links

The giant leech and giant worm in Kinabalu Park, Borneo, MalaysiaMonster leech swallows giant worm
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6410329 Leeches Animals described in 1897 Endemic fauna of Borneo Invertebrates of Malaysia