First report of leech parasitism on Gekko (Japonigekko) hokouensis Pope, 1928 (Squamata: Gekkonidae)

Submitted by amonpong.k on Sun, 11/30/2025 - 11:45

5 views

Issue

Authors

Ace Kevin S. Amarga

Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan/International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN-SSC) Parasite Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland/Department of Biology, College of Science

Yu-Sing Lin

Herpetology Lab, National Taiwan Normal University-Gongguan Campus, Wenshan District, Tai-pei, Taiwan

Andrie Bon A. Flores

Biodiversity Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Biodiversity Research Center, Aca-demia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan./ Herpetology Lab, National Taiwan Normal University-Gongguan Campus, Wenshan District, Tai-pei, Taiwan

Abstract

Parasitism of haemadipsid leeches were commonly reported on mammals. However, it is rarely documented on herpetofauna, especially on reptiles. In this paper, we present the documentation of the haemadipsid Tritetrabdella taiwana (Oka, 1910) parasitizing Gekko (Japonigekko) hokouensis Pope, 1928 observed in northern Taiwan. Our account represents the first confirmed and reported haemadipsid parasitism on any gekkonid species in Taiwan, as well as the first record of leech parasitism on G. hokouensis.

Keywords

References

Amarga, A.K.S. and Y.-S. Lin. 2023. Cyclemys dentata (Asian Leaf Turtle). Ectoparasite. Herpetological Review 54: 446–447.

Aminov, R. 2019. Cannibalism of the medical leeches Hirudo verbena. Eurasian Journal of BioSciences 13: 23–26.

Borda, E. and M.E. Siddall. 2011. Insights into the evolutionary history of Indo-Pacific bloodfeeding terrestrial leeches (Hirudinida: Arhynchobdellida: Haemadipsidae). Invertebrate Systematics 24(5): 456–472. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS10013.

Bunkley-Williams, L., E.H. Williams, Jr., J.A. Horrocks, H.C. Horta, A.A. Mignucci-Giannoni and A.C. Poponi. 2008. New leeches and diseases for the hawksbill sea turtle and the West Indies. Comparative Parasitology 75: 263–270. https://doi.org/10.1654/4252.1.

Desser, S.S. 1987. Aegyptianella ranarum sp. n. (Rickettsiales, Anaplasmataceae): Ultrastructure and prevalence in frogs from Ontario. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 23: 52–59. https://doi. org/10.7589/0090-3558-23.1.52.

Floug, Q., R. Sinna, A. Fillatre, P. Plésiat and F. Hamdad. 2019. A case of leech-associated infection involving an extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing and extensively drug-resistant Aeromonas hydrophila. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 25: 394–395. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.cmi.2018.11.006.

Govedich, F.R., B.A. Bain and R.W. Davies. 2002. Placobdelloides stellapapillosa sp. n. (Glossi-phoniidae) found feeding on crocodiles and turtles. Hydrobiologia 474: 253–256. https://doi. org/10.1023/A:1016591922650.

Hopkins, W.A., J.A. Fallon, M.L. Beck, B.H. Coe and C.M.B. Jachowski. 2016. Haematological and immunological characteristics of eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganien-sis) infected and co-infected with endo- and ectoparasites. Conservation Physiology 4: cow002. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/cow002.

Jeffrey, J., S. Vellayan, P. Oothuman, B. Omar, M. Zahedi, M. Krishnasamy and I. Singh. 1990. Incidental post-mortem finding of the buffalo leech in the lungs of an estuarine crocodile. Jurnal Veterinar Malaysia 2: 39–41.

Kutschera, U. 2003. The feeding strategies of the leech Erpobdella octoculata (L.): a laboratory study. International Review of Hydrobiology 88: 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.200390008.

Kutschera, U. and M. Roth. 2005. Cannibalismin a population of themedicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis L.). Biology Bulletin 32: 626–628. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10525-005-0154-7.

Lai, Y-T. and J.-H. Chen. 2010. Leech Fauna of Taiwan. National Taiwan University Press, Taipei, Taiwan.

Lai, Y-T., T. Nakano and J.-H. Chen. 2011. Three species of land leeches from Taiwan, Haemadipsa rjukjuana comb. n., a new record for Haemadipsa picta Moore, and an updated description of Tritetrabdella taiwana (Oka). ZooKeys 139: 1–22. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.139.1711.

Lunghi, E., G.F. Ficetola, M. Mulargia, R. Cogoni, M. Veith, C. Corti and R. Manenti. 2018. Batracobdella leeches, environmental features and Hydromantes salamanders. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 7: 48–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.01.003.

Mann, K.H. and M.J. Tyler. 1963. Leeches as endoparasites of frogs. Nature 197: 1224–1225. https:// doi.org/10.1038/1971224a0.

Marden, J.N., E.A. McClure, L. Beka and J. Graf. 2016. Host matters: Medicinal leech digestive-tract symbionts and their pathogenic potential. Frontiers in Microbiology 7: 1569. https://doi. org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01569.

Marsden, P.D. and L.E. Pettitt. 1969.The survival ofTrypanosoma cruziin the medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis). Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 63: 413–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/0035-9203(69)90025-X.

Nakano, T. and L.A. Prozorova. 2024. Terrestrial predatory leeches of the genus Orobdella (Hirudinea: Erpobdelliformes: Orobdellidae) endemic to the southern Russian Far East: a new species of the genus from Primorsky Krai, Russia. Zootaxa 5424: 44–60. https://doi.org/10.11646/ ZOOTAXA.5424.1.2.

Nehili, M., C. Ilk, H. Mehlhorn, K. Ruhnau, W. Dick and M. Njayou. 1994. Experiments on the possible role of leeches as vectors of animal and human pathogens: a light and electron microscopy study. Parasitology Research 80: 277–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02351867.

Oceguera-Figueroa, A. and S. Kvist. 2024. Chapter 62. Hirudinia (Class): Parasitic Leeches. In: Gardner, S.L. and S.A. Gardner (eds.) Concepts in Animal Parasitology. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A. pp. 747–755. https://doi.org/10.32873/unl.dc.ciap062.

Oka, A. 1910. Synopsis der japanischen Hirudineen, mit Diagnosen der neuen Species. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses 7: 165–183.

Ota, H., R.I. Crombie, K.-Y. Lue and S.-H. Chen. 1988. A record of Gekko hokouensis (Reptilia: Sauria) from Lanyu Island, Taiwan, with notes on its variation. Journal of Taiwan Museum 41: 7–14.

Platt, T., D. Sever, and V.L. Gonzalez. 1993. First report of the predaceous leech Helobdella stagnalis (Rhynchobdellida: Glossiphoniidae) as a parasite of an amphibian, Ambystoma tigrinum (Amphibia: Caudata). American Midland Naturalist 129: 208.

Pope, C.H. 1928. Four new snakes and a new lizard from south China. American Museum Novitates 325: 1–4.

Raffel, T.R., J.R. Dillard and P.J. Hudson. 2006. Field evidencefor leech-borne transmission of amphibian Ichthyophonus sp. Journal of Parasitology 92: 1256–1264. https://doi.org/10.1645/ge-808r1.1.

Richardson, D.J., W.E. Moser, C.I. Hammond, E.A. Lazo-Wasem, C.T. McAllister and E.E. Pulis. 2017. A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella ((Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39–49. https:// doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680.

Rocha, R., E. Borda, F. Andreone, and G.M. Rosa. 2012. First reports of leech parasitism in Malagasy anurans. Comparative Parasitology 79: 352–356. https://doi.org/10.1654/45461.

Rodenbusch, C.R., F.S. Marks, C.W. Canal and J. Reck. 2012. Marine leech Ozobranchus margoi parasitizing loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária 21: 301–303. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1984-29612012000300023.

Schikov, E.V. 2011. Haemopsis sanguisuga (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hirudinea) – the first observation of a leech predation on terrestrial gastropods. Folia Malacologica 19: 103–106. https://doi.org/10.2478/ v10125-011-0016-5.

Siddall, M.E. and J. Bowerman. 2006. A new species of glossiphoniid leech from Rana pretiosa (Amphibia: Ranidae) in Oregon. Journal of Parasitology 92: 855–857. https://doi.org/10.2307/40058586.

Stark, T., D. Brouwer, R. Ploeg and T. Lenders. 2017. First record of phoresy or possible parasitism by the freshwater leech Helobdella stagnalis (Glossiphoniidae) on Lissotriton helveticus (Caudata: Salamandridae) in the Netherlands. Herpetology Notes 10: 717–719.

Tessler, M., S.R. Weiskopf, L. berniker, R. Hersch, K.P. Mccarthy, D.W. Yu and M.E. Sidall. 2018. Bloodlines: mammals, leeches, and conservation in southern Asia. Systematics and Biodiversity 16(5): 488–496. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2018.1433729.

Toda, M. and T. Hikida. 2011. Possible incursions of Gekko hokouensis (Reptilia: Squamata) into non-native area: an example from Yakushima Island of the Northern Ryukyus, Japan. Current Herpetology 30: 33–39. https://doi.org/10.3105/018.030.0103.

Toda, Y. and Y. Tsuyoshi. 2005. Issues and perspectives regarding invasive alien species of amphibians and reptiles in Japan. Bulletin of Herpetological Society of Japan 2005: 139–149.

Trivalairat, P., K. Chiangkul, and W. Purivirojkul. 2019. Placobdelloides sirikanchanae sp. nov., a new species of glossiphoniid leech and a parasite of turtles from lower southern Thailand (Hirudinea, Rhynchobdellida). ZooKeys 882: 1–24. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.882.35229.

Tucker, A.D., N.N. Fitzsimmons and F.R. Govedich. 2005. Euhirudinea from Australian turtles (Chelodina burrungandjii and Emydura australis) of the Kimberley Plateau, Western Australia, Australia. Comparative Parasitology 72: 241–244. https://doi.org/10.1654/4175.

Uetz, P., P. Freed, R. Aguilar, F. Reyes, J. Kudera and J. Hošek (eds.). 2024. The Reptile Database. <https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/>.

Zdunek, P. 2023. Varanus salvator macromaculatus (Southeast Asian Water Monitor). Leech parasitism. Herpetological Review 54: 476.

Zhou, S.-H., X. Xiao, Y.-N. Sun, X.-H. Xu, X. Ding, S.-Y. Zhang, M. Zhang, W.-L. Lu and Q.-H. Gao. 2019. Ehrlichia species in pond-farmed leeches (Hirudinaria sp.) in Hubei Province, China. PLoS One 14: e0215082. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215082.

Zhou, K.-Y., Y.-Z. Liu and D.-J. Liu. 1982. Three new species of Gekko and remarks on Gekko hokouensis (Lacertiformes, Gekkonidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 7: 438–446 (in Chinese).

33 Views.