Correspondence ISSN 2336-9744 (online) | ISSN 2337-0173 (print) The journal is available on line at www.biotaxa.org/em Freshwater leeches (Clitellata: Hirudinida) of south-western Iran: Small area - High diversity SARA RAHMANIPANAH1, HAMID BELGHEISZADEH2*, KAVEH DARABI DARESTANI3 & HORA JALAI TEHRANI4 1 Department of Biology, School of advanced sciences in regenerative medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. Email address: [email protected] 2* Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Islamic Azad University Tehran Medical Branch, Tehran, Iran 3Zoology Department, School of Biological Sciences and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Email: [email protected] 4 Department of Biology, School of advanced sciences in regenerative medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. Email: [email protected] *Corresponding author: [email protected] Received 29 October 2015 │ Accepted 11 November 2015 │ Published online 15 November 2015. Leeches (Annelida: Hirudinida) are one of the most important benthic invertebrates in different aquatic habitats since they have different roles such as predators, preys or parasites (Sawyer 1986). Iran is a country in Middle East (south western part of Palaearctic) that has not been studied comprehensively regarding leech diversity (e.g. Bennike 1940; Gholami 2005; Grosser & Pešić 2006; Grosser & Pešić 2008; Grosser et al. 2011, Salimi et al. 2011; Mirzaei et al. 2007; Darabi Darestani & Malek 2011a, b). Esfahan freshwater eco-region is considered as one of the smallest eco-regions (out of 11 eco- regions in Iran, Abell et al. 2008) and it has one basin named as Isfahan which is an endorheic basin for Zayande Rood River. Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari province is located in this basin (Kiyani Haftlang, 2003). Different substrates (aquatic vegetation, roots of trees, submerged materials and underside of stones) in freshwater habitats of Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari province (Fig. 1) have been investigated from June 2014 to May 2015. Habitats were mostly running waters (e.g. springs or streams) with muddy or pebble and rocky beddings. Despite small geographical area of the study, a rich leech fauna has been recorded. In total, four families, six genera and six species have been reported in seven localities as follow: Family Glossiphoniidae Vailant, 1890 Glossiphonia (Johnston, 1819) Glossiphonia complanata (Linnaeus, 1758) Material: Saman, (N: 32°28' E: 50°39'E), 2081m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 28 specs. Ben, (N: 32°32' E: 50°45'), 2057m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 13 specs. Remarks: Reported by Mirzaei et al. (2007) in this province and Isfahan basin. The species is presumably a Holarctic species (Nesemann & Neubert 1999). Hemiclepsis (Vezhdovskii, 1844) Hemiclepsis marginata (O.F.Muller, 1774) Material: Farokhshahr, (N: 33°50' E: 59°31'), 2102m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 8 specs. Ecol. Mont., 4, 2015, 29-32 29 FRESHWATER LEECHES OF SOUTH-WESTERN IRAN Remarks: Reported by Grosser & Pešić (2006) from northern Iran. New for Isfahan basin. It is a Palaearctic species (Nesemann & Neubert 1999). Figure 1. Study area (oval shape) showing Isfahan basin that encompasses Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari province. Family Piscicolidae Johnston, 1865 Piscicola De Blainville, 1818 Piscicola geometra (Linnaeus, 1758) Material: Saman, (N: 32°28' E: 50°39'E), 2081m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 3 specs. Remarks: Reported by Pazooki & Masoumian (2012) from northern Iran. New for Isfahan basin. The species is presumably distributed in Holarctic and Neotropic regions (Nesemann & Neubert 1999). Family Hirudinidae Whitman, 1886 Hirudo Linneaus, 1758 Hirudo orientalis Utevsky and Trontelj, 2005 (Fig. 2) Material: Farokhshahr, (N: 33°50' E: 59°31'), 2102m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 41 specs. Saman, (N: 32°28' E: 50°39'E), 2081m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 46 specs. Ben, (N: 32°32' E: 50°45'), 2057m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 31specs. Shar-e-Kian, (N: 32°57' E: 54°48'), leg.2074m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 32specs. Sharekord, (N: 32°00' E: 50°00'), 2070m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 48specs. Soureshjan, (N: 31°3' E: 52°48'), 2062m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 42 specs. Taghanak, (N: 31°23' E: 52°48'), 2048m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 38specs. Ecol. Mont., 4, 2015, 29-32 30 RAHMANIPANAH ET AL. Remarks: Reported by Utevsky & Trontelj (2005) and Grosser & Pešić (2006) from northern Iran. New for Isfahan basin. It is distributed in Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (Utevsky & Trontelj 2005). Figure 2. The Persian medicinal leech Hirudo orientalis a) ventral view and b) dorsal view of adult specimen (Scale: 1cm), c) Ventral view of clitterlar region, M: male genital pore and F: female genital pore (Scale: 1mm). Genus Limnatis Moquin-Tandon, 1826 Limnatis nilotica (Savigny, 1822) Material: Shar-e-Kian, (N: 32°57' E: 54°48'), leg.2074m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 14 specs. Saman, (N: 32°28' E: 50°39'E), 2081m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 21 specs. Remarks: Recorded by Bennike (1940) from western Iran, Gholami (2005) from northern Iran and Grosser & Pešić (2006) from southern Iran. New for Isfahan basin. The species is distributed in circum- Mediterranean area, Ukraine and Crimean peninsula, near and Middle East, Arabian Peninsula and eastern Africa (Nesemann & Neubert 1999). Familiy Erpobdellidae R. Blanchard, 1894 Genus Erpobdella De Blainville, 1818 Erpobdella octoculata (Linnaeus, 1758) Material: Saman, (N: 32°28' E: 50°39'E), 2081m a.s.l, leg. Rahmanipanah: 1 spec. Remarks: Reported by Grosser & Pešić (2006) from western, south western, north eastern and central part of Iran, Salimi et al. (2011) from western Iran. New for Isfahan basin. It is widely distributed in Palaearctic. The species is well known from western, central and northern Europe. In Mediterranean region, Ecol. Mont., 4, 2015, 29-32 31 FRESHWATER LEECHES OF SOUTH-WESTERN IRAN it has been poorly reported but it is known from Italy, Greece and Balkans. It is not known from Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean islands. It is also known, eastward, from Anatolia, the upper Euphrates in Turkey and Caucasus (Nesemann & Neubert 1999). Species abundance showed that the localities were mainly dominated by species of Hirudinidae specifically two species Hirudo orientalis which was present in all localities and Limnatis nilotica with presence status in three localities. Glossiphonid leeches with two species Glossiphonia complanata and Hemiclepsis marginata were ranked second in terms of abundance and the least abundant leeches belonged to Piscicolidae and Erpobdellidae with one species in each family Piscicola geometra and Erpobdella octoculata respectively. It shows that the clean and cold water of the studied localities have created a favorable habitats for the Hirudinid leeches. The presence of H. orientalis at this geographical point is a new finding as it is the southernmost known distribution range for the species. The study area did not inhabit rich fauna of Erpobdellids contrary to other studies (Grosser & Pešić 2006; Salimi et al. 2011). Acknowledgments We warmly thank the Islamic Islamic Azad University Tehran Medical Branch for their financial support of this study. References Abell, R., Thieme, M. L., Revenga, C., Bryer, M., Kottelat, M., Bogutskaya, N., Coad, B., Mandrak, N., Balderas, S. C., Bussing, W., Stiassny, M. L. 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