Korean J Parasitol.  2014 Apr;52(2):169-175.

Molecular Identification of Haemadipsa rjukjuana (Hirudiniformes: Haemadipsidae) in Gageo Island, Korea

• Won S
• Park BK
• Kim BJ
• Kim HW
• Kang JG
• Park TS
• Seo HY
• Eun Y
• Kim KG
• Chae JS

Abstract

There are 60 species of blood-feeding land leeches, 50 species belonging to the family Haemadipsidae and 10 species belonging to the family Xerobdellidae. Despite recent papers on the land leeches, their taxonomic identification is not fully understood, especially at a species level. In Korea, there have been no historical records of the terrestrial leeches, but recently an unrecorded blood-feeding land leech was discovered at Gageo-do (Island), Korea. Molecular analysis was used to identify the species of 29 leeches collected from Mt. Dock-Sil in Gageo-do. Conventional PCR was conducted using nuclear 18S rRNA and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) genetic marker. The 18S rRNA sequences revealed that the leeches share 99.9% identity with Haemadipsa rjukjuana (inhabiting Taiwan), and the CO1 sequences revealed that the leeches are very close to H. rjukjuana (inhabiting Taiwan). The CO1 sequences were separated into 2 categories, 1 with 94.6% and the other with 94.3% similarity to the H. rjukjuana L00115A (inhabiting Taiwan). This new finding of the land leech is the first record in Korea. In addition, the north range of the distribution of the blood-feeding leech (Hirudiniformes: Haemadipisidae) should be reconsidered including Korea.

Keyword

Haemadipsa rjukjuana; terrestrial leech; blood-feeding vector

MeSH Terms

Animals
Base Sequence
DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics
Electron Transport Complex IV/*genetics
Genetic Markers/genetics
Leeches/*classification/*genetics
Mitochondria/enzymology/genetics
Phylogeny
Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/*genetics
Republic of Korea
Sequence Alignment
Sequence Analysis, DNA
DNA, Mitochondrial
Genetic Markers
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
Electron Transport Complex IV