BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
20 May 2020 Intraspecific Variation in Growth and Reproduction of the Marine Leech, Heptacyclus buthi
Bernard Y. Kim, Donald G. Buth
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Heptacyclus buthi was harvested from fish hosts in rocky intertidal zones of Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, in October 2008 (n = 162) and October 2010 (n = 51). The size of the leeches was quantified using a method that approximated the sagittal cross-section of each specimen. Size-frequency curves were modeled to estimate the number of size-class cohorts in each year. If H. buthi is an annual species like many of its relatives, the single cohort modeled for in 2010 and the comparable “older” cohort in 2008, both with a broad range of sizes, may represent 1 component of its reproductive life history. A second, younger, more-numerous, less-variable cohort modeled from the 2008 sample may represent a second reproductive bout during that year that was prevented in the subsequent La Niña period of 2010–2011.

© American Society of Parasitologists 2020
Bernard Y. Kim and Donald G. Buth "Intraspecific Variation in Growth and Reproduction of the Marine Leech, Heptacyclus buthi," Journal of Parasitology 106(3), 378-381, (20 May 2020). https://doi.org/10.1645/19-111
Published: 20 May 2020
KEYWORDS
El Niño
Heptacyclus
Hirudinida
La Niña
Oligochaeta
Petersen method
Piscicolidae
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top