Corresponding author: Takafumi Nakano (
Academic editor: Fredric Govedich
Specimens of the genus
The genus
The type locality of
Leeches were collected from the Suygaty Valley located at the left bank part of the Ily River Depression, Almaty Province, Kazakhstan (Fig.
The numbering convention is based on
Sequences of mitochondrial COI as well as 12S, tRNAVal and 16S (12S–16S) were determined for 2 specimens from Almaty Province. The extraction of genomic DNA and DNA sequencing methods followed
To determine the phylogenetic position of Kazakhstani
Sequences of mitochondrial COI were aligned by eye, as no indels were observed. Mitochondrial 12S–16S sequences were aligned using MAFFT v. 7.213 FFT-NS-2 (
Body firm, muscular, with constant width in caudal direction, dorsoventrally compressed, BL 22.64–36.73 mm, BW 4.47–9.82 mm (Fig.
Somite I completely merged with prostomium (Fig.
Male gonopore in XI b5/b6 (Fig.
Eyes 5 pairs, in parabolic arc; 1st and 2nd pairs on II + III, 3rd pair on IV (a1 + a2), 4th pair on V (a1 + a2), and 5th pair on VI a2 (Fig.
In 17 pairs, one each situated ventrally at posterior margin of VIII a1 and b2 of each somite in IX–XXIV (Figs
1 median longitudinal furrow on ventral surface of oral sucker (Fig.
Testisacs 8 or 9 pairs (Fig.
Pair of ovisacs globular, in XII b5–XIII b1 (Figs
When alive, dorsal surface uniform reddish brown (Fig.
During night time, the leeches examined in this study were found crawling in a small pond (Figs
Neighbour-joining trees generated based on both the COI (Fig.
The COI uncorrected p-distance between the Kazakhstani
The present 4 specimens of
As mentioned above, the taxonomic identities of
It is noteworthy that the specimens of
We thank Mr Andrey Kovalenko and Mr Oleg Okshin for their assistance in the field in Kazakhstan, Dr Atushi Tominaga (University of the Ryukyus) for providing a picture of the leech habitat, and Dr Bonnie Bain (Southern Utah University), Dr Serge Y. Utevsky (V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University) and Dr Fredric R. Govedich (Southern Utah University) for their constructive comments on this manuscript. This study was conducted as part of research collaboration between Kyoto University and the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (General Memorandum for Scientific Cooperation and Exchange, 4 March 2013), and was financially supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows to TN, and that for Young Scientists (B) to TN (#26840127) as well as to KN (#23770084).
Localities where
dorsal view.
ventral view.
dorsal view of somites I–VIII.
left lateral view of somites I–VIII.
ventral view of somites I–VIII.
dorsal view of somites XXIII–XXVII and caudal sucker.
ventral view of somites XXIII and caudal sucker.
dorsal view of male median reproductive system including positions of ganglia XI and XII. Scale bar: 0.25 mm.
left lateral view of schematic drawing of male median reproductive system.
dorsal view of female reproductive system including positions of ganglia XII and XIII. Scale bar: 0.25 mm.
left lateral view of schematic drawing of female reproductive system.
Habitat of
small pond where the present leeches were found. Photo taken by Dr Atsushi Tominaga.
landscape of the Suygaty Valley (Ili River Depression). Photo taken by KN.
The neighbour-joining tree of available COI sequences. Numbers associated with nodes represent bootstrap values. Length of each sequence is listed in Table
The neighbour-joining tree of available 12S sequences. Numbers associated with nodes represent bootstrap values. Length of each sequence is listed in Table
Samples with voucher or isolate numbers, collection country and INSDC accession numbers used for molecular analyses. Sequences marked with an asterisk (*) were obtained for the first time in the present study. Acronym: KUZ, Zoological Collection of Kyoto University. Sources: a
Species (voucher or isolate #) | Country | COI | 12S–16S or 12S | ||
Accession # | Length | Accession # | Length | ||
Kazakhstan | 1267 | 601 | |||
Kazakhstan | 1267 | 601 | |||
Afghanistan |
|
658 | |||
|
Israela |
|
648 |
|
353 |
Namibia |
|
565 |
|
355 | |
|
Bosnia |
|
355 | ||
|
Croatiab |
|
631 |
|
503 |
Mexico |
|
658 |
|
353 |
Uncorrected p-distances for available COI sequences of
Species | Country | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
1. |
Kazakhstan | ||||||
2. |
Kazakhstan | 0.000 | |||||
3. |
Israel | 0.002 | 0.002 | ||||
4. |
Afghanistan | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.006 | |||
5. |
Namibia | 0.073 | 0.073 | 0.073 | 0.074 | ||
6. |
Croatia | 0.095 | 0.095 | 0.097 | 0.092 | 0.119 |
Uncorrected p-distances for available 12S sequences of
Species | Country | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
1. |
Kazakhstan | ||||||
2. |
Kazakhstan | 0.000 | |||||
3. |
Israel | 0.000 | 0.000 | ||||
4. |
Namibia | 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.028 | |||
5. |
Bosnia | 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.039 | ||
6. |
Croatia | 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.039 | 0.000 |