tricarinata in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia. Limnatis buntonensis Meyer, 1951) that may parasitise African fishes, however, specific information is lacking, and the authors thus excluded these species from their confirmed checklist of hirudinid parasites of African fishes.ĭespite the lack of detailed host ranges and occurrence data, Oosthuizen (1989) reported on the distribution of B. Aliolimnatis michaelseni Sawer, 1986) and Astioticobdella butonensis (Meyer, 1851) (syn. Hadfield and Smit (2018) provided a short synopsis on other leech species, i.e., Hirudo michaelseni Augener, 1936 (syn. gariepinus from ponds in agricultural research farms in Nigeria and would need confirmation as no description or photomicrographs are provided by the respective authors. (2020) both reported Piscicola geometra on C. African records of Clarias gariepinus as host to leeches include the ‘unidentified leech’ from the Nwanedi-Luphephe dams, South Africa, and several records of ‘leeches’ or ‘piscicolid leech’ from Nigeria and Tanzania ( Enyidi and Uwanna, 2019 Madanire-Moyo et al., 2010 Mwita, 2014a,b Mwita and Nkwengulila, 2004). gariepinus in South Africa and Namibia ( Appleton et al., 2003 Oosthuizen, 1991). Similarly, geographic and host range information is lacking for the reports of B. To date, very little attention has been given to research on leeches in Africa, and there are no publications providing explicit details on locality and host records. tricarinata in their surveys and checklists from data collected in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, and the Caprivi Strip, Namibia. Oosthuizen (1989) and Oosthuizen and Curtis (1990) confirmed the non-specific haematophagous ectoparasitic nature of B. A single leech species, Batracobdelloides tricarinata (Blanchard, 1897) (Rhynchobdellida: Glossiphoniidae) is known as a parasite of cichlid, clariid and cyprinids hosts in Africa, and several reports are known where it serves as a vector for species of Trypanosoma Gruby, 1834 (Kinetoplastea: Protozoa) in the blood of freshwater fishes ( Smit et al., 2004, 2020). Leeches are categorised as temporary ectoparasites that leave their hosts (i.e., fish, frogs, birds) after a blood meal, and when present in large numbers on a single host individual may lead to its death ( Baker, 1960 Oosthuizen and Siddall, 2003 Smit et al., 2020 ). These organisms have been identified as sentinels in ecosystems, serving as intermediate hosts and vectors for digeneans and blood parasites of fishes, respectively. The Hirudinea (Phylum Annelida), commonly known as leeches, are characterised by their proboscis and vascular system morphology ( Hadfield and Smit, 2018 and references therein). Smit, in Advances in Parasitology, 2023 9 Subclass Hirudinea
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