''Orobdella masaakikuroiwai'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of proboscisless leech from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Etymology

The name is a

contraction Contraction may refer to: Linguistics * Contraction (grammar), a shortened word * Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons * Elision, omission of sounds ** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word * Synalepha, merged ...

of Masaaki Kuroiwa, who was part of the survey of the

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

Description

Mature individuals are smaller than long, making them one of the smallest species in their genus beside '' O. koikei''. The species has a flattened, elongate muscular body. The caudal sucker is positioned on the ventral surface. It has three pairs of eyes. General coloration is whitish brown, brown, or whitish yellow, with a greyish or yellowish white underbelly.

Range and habitat

''O. masaakikuroiwai'' is found in mountainous parts of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

island, in the eastern and southeastern parts of the Nagano Prefecture. It was also found in mountainous areas of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

and around

Mount Amagi is a range of volcanic mountains in central Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, forming the border between Izu City and Higashi-Izu Town. It is also referred to as the . The Amagi mountains have several peaks, the tallest of which a ...

on the

Izu Peninsula The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The peninsul ...

. Specimens were collected between and above sea level. Individuals are usually found in moist areas, usually under stones or leaves.

Behavior

Reproduction

The species is believed to begin breeding in mid-to-late July.

Diet

Due to the discovery of soil particles in the leeches' digestive tracts, Nakano (2014) concluded that the species feeds on

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

s like other members of the genus '' Orobdella''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q18358262 Leeches Endemic fauna of Japan Invertebrates of Japan Animals described in 2014