Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 8, 2026

Macrobdella

Macrobdella is a genus of leeches native to freshwater ecosystems of North America, especially Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The genus is commonly referred to as North American medicinal leeches.

Last revised
Jul 8, 2026
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Macrobdella
Macrobdella decora, the North American medicinal leech, in Buckingham, Quebec
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Clade: Pleistoannelida
Clade: Sedentaria
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Order: Arhynchobdellida
Suborder: Hirudiniformes
Family: Macrobdellidae
Genus: Macrobdella
Verrill, 187212

Macrobdella is a genus of leeches1 native to freshwater ecosystems of North America, especially Canada, Mexico, and the United States.3 The genus is commonly referred to as North American medicinal leeches.

Species

There are five recognized species of Macrobdella.1

Notes

Notes

  1. A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Macrobdella .
References

References

  1. "Macrobdella Verrill, 1872". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  2. "Macrobdella Verrill, 1872". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  3. Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro; Salas-Montiel, Ricardo; Phillips, Anna J. (July 2016). "Distribution of the New England Medicinal Leech, Macrobdella sestertia Whitman, 1886 and redeterminations of specimens of Macrobdella (Annelida: Clitellata: Macrobdellidae) at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 129 (1): 103–113. doi:10.2988/0006-324X-129.Q2.103. ISSN 0006-324X.
  4. "Macrobdella decora (Say, 1824)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  5. "Macrobdella diplotertia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  6. "Macrobdella ditetra". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  7. Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro; Kvist, Sebastian; Salas-Montiel, Ricardo; Phillips, Anna J. (15 August 2019). "Phylogenetic Position and Description of a New Species of Medicinal Leech from the Eastern United States". Journal of Parasitology. 105 (4): 587–597. doi:10.1645/18-119. ISSN 0022-3395. PMID 31414949.
  8. "Macrobdella sestertia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 December 2025.