Alboglossiphonia weberi
Abstract
Alboglossiphonia weberi (Blanchard, 1897) (Figs 1; 2C) Glossiphonia weberi Blanchard, 1897: 332 (original species description, type designated, considered holotype, fig. 1). — Moore 1924: 351. — Harding & Moore 1927: 62. Clepsine weberi – Augener 1931: 744. Glossiphonia weberi weberi – Soós 1969: 397. Alboglossiphonia weberi – Lukin 1976: 261. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Uzbekistan • 6 samples; Ferghana Valley, Andijan region; 22.III.2020; Kh. Solijonov leg.; Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. ADDITIONAL DATA. — See Appendix 1. DIAGNOSIS. — Small-sized leech. Body length of young leeches 2-4 mm, width 1-2 mm, adults 5-12 mm in length and their width 3-8 mm. Body elongated oval-shaped at rest. Body margins denticulate. Dorsal body surface with well-developed tubercles. Three pairs of eyes: 1st pair smaller and closer together; 2nd and 3rd pairs larger, with a greater distance between them. Body colour mostly white, almost transparent. Therefore, after feeding, the digestive organs can be seen with the naked eye through the body coverings. Median row of black dots on dorsum present. Live and freshly fixed leeches with segmentally arranged transverse lateral black bands, numerous paramedian black lines, and tiny dots on dorsum. Six pairs of crop caeca: 1st pair smallest; 2nd–5th pairs longer; posterior crop caeca branched into five pouches (Solijonov et al. 2023). REMARK This species, a leech native to the Oriental region, was first recorded in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan and Central Asia based on both morphological characters and molecular data.