Segmented worms related to earthworms, with a sucker at each end. Of about 680 species, most live in fresh water, some on land and about 100 in the sea. The best known feed on blood, but others are predators of small invertebrates. They live everywhere except Antarctica.
Quick answers
What is it?Annelid
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inWorldwide, Rivers
HabitatRivers & lakes, Wetland
ColoursBlack, Brown, Green
SizeTiny
LengthTrue leeches: about 1–30 cm
LegsNone
Covered inSkin
Lives alone
Lives for2–8 years
Can swim
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Worldwide except Antarctica, most abundant in temperate northern lakes and ponds.
- What it eats
- Blood of vertebrates for many species; others hunt small invertebrates.
Did you know
Still used in microsurgery: its saliva contains hirudin, which stops blood from clotting.
A medicinal leech can drink up to ten times its body weight in one meal, then go a year without feeding.
The US Food and Drug Administration classed leech therapy as a medical device in 2004.
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