Alboglossiphonia heteroclita

Taxon classification Animalia Rhynchobdellea Glossiphoniidae

Alboglossiphonia heteroclita (Linneaus, 1761)

Hirudo heteroclita: Linnaeus 1761; Hirudo papillosa: Braun 1805; Hirudo trioculata: Carena 1820; Clepsine caranae: Moquin-Tandon 1826; Clepsine striata: Apáthy 1888; Clepsine polonica: Lindenfeld and Pietruszynski 1890; Glossiphonia heteroclita: Blanchard 1894; Glossiphonia heteroclita: Harding and Moore 1926.

Geographic distribution.

Holarctic species.

Subspecies.

papillosa (Pawlowski, 1936)

Geographic distribution,

widespread in the Holarctic region.

Maloe More: Tutay Bay, Kurkut Bay, Zagli Bay, Mukhor Bay, Kurma Bay, Lake Zunduk, Lake Zama, Codoviy Bay, Lake Khuzhir.

Ecological characteristics.

Alboglossiphonia heteroclita lives in various types of flowing and stagnant waters (Nesemann and Neubert 1999). It has been recorded from brackish water, up to 3% in the Baltic Sea by Koli (1960). It occurs from the lowlands to mountainous regions. Alboglossiphonia heteroclita is a suctorial freshwater sit-and-wait predator; it preys on small invertebrates - mainly on gastropods, isopods and oligochaetes. It inhabits sor zones and warm bays of Lake Baikal. As a typical glossiphoniid, it shows touching parental care.