ANTICANCER COMPOUNDS FROM MEDICINAL PLANTS


BIOLOGICA NYSSANA  4 (1-2)  December 2013: 1-7  Stešević, D. Caković, D.  Contribution to the alien flora of Montenegro … 

  

 97 

 

 

 

Short Communication 

 

First record of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) 
(Hirudinida: Erpobdellidae) from Greece 
 

Clemens Grosser
1
 and Vladimir Pešić

2
 

 

 
1
Am Wasserturm 20, 04523 Elstertrebnitz, Germany; 

2
Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, Cetinjski put bb, 81000 Podgorica, 

Montenegro 

 

* E-mail: vladopesic@gmail.com 
 

 

Abstract:  

Grosser, C., Pešić, V.: First record of Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) (Hirudinida: 

Erpobdellidae) from Greece. Biologica Nyssana, 4 (1-2), December 2013: 97-98. 

Erpobdella concolor (Annandale, 1913) was recorded for the first time from a spring in the Peloponnese, 

Greece. This locality represents the westernmost spot of the species range known so far. 

Key words: Hirudinida, Erpobdellidae, Erpobdella concolor, Greece, first record 

 

 

Introduction 
 

Erpobdella concolor (A n n a n d a l e , 1913) 

is presumably considered as the East-Mediterranean 

species (N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t  1999), but  

the current knowledge of the geographical 

distribution of this species is still far from complete. 

Recently, G r o s s e r  &  P e š i ć  (2006) revealed 

possibly the eastern border of range of this species 

in the Kerman Province in Iran. However, it has not 

been clear how far the range extends to the west in 

the Mediterranean region. This research deals with 

the finding of Erpobdella concolor in the 

Peloponnese, Greece, and establishes the 

westernmost locality of the species known so far.  

 
 

Material and methods 
 

On 4
th
 July, 2017, one leech specimen was 

collected by hand under stones within 10-50 cm off 

the shore of the small spring (Sentenikos spring, 

37°11'31.06"Ν, 22°21'53.61"Ε, close to Zoros 

spring, region of Sparti town) in the central 

Peloponnese. The specimen was collected by junior 

author and preserved in 96% ethanol. The specimen 

is deposited in the collection of senior author. 
 

Results and discussion 
 

The specimen was identified as Erpobdella 

concolor (A n n a n d a l e , 1913). The anterior part 

of the body is cylindrical; posteriorly, there are two 

blunt keels. The body is unicoloured without 

paramedian stripes. The male genital pore is situated 

in furrow b2/a2, the female in furrow b5/c11. The 

genital pores are separated by two annuli. The size 

of the leech is 13 mm in the length and 3 mm in the 

width. 

The single specimen of Erpobdella concolor 

(A n n a n d a l e , 1913) from the Peloponnese agree 

well with the description of N e s e m a n n  &  

N e u b e r t  (1999). This species was a long time 

treated as subspecies of Dina lineata (M ü l l e r , 

1774). However, recent phylogenetic studies 

(T r o n t e l j  &  S k e t  2000; S i d d a l l  2002) 

based on morphology and DNA sequence data 

showed that a revision of the family was necessary 

because the morphological characters (first the 

annulation) used to distinguish former erpobdellid 

4 (1-2) • December 2013: 97-98 

 



BIOLOGICA NYSSANA  4 (1-2)  December 2013: 97-98  Grosser, C. Pešić, D.  First record of Erpobdella concolor … 

 

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genera are not  informative. For this reason, 

S i d d a l l  (2002) after morphogenetic analysis 

synonymized all the genera of Erpobdellidae with 

Erpobdella. Furthermore, S i d d a l l  (2002) elevated 

Erpobdella concolor to full species status. 

According to the most comprehensive 

revision of the European leeches by Nesemann & 

N e u b e r t  (1999), Erpobdella concolor is known 

from Cyprus, southern Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Israel, 

Jordan and the northern part of Saudi Arabia. The 

stream in village Sirch in the Kerman province (SE 

Iran) represent the easternmost locality of this 

species (G r o s s e r  &  P e š i ć  2006). On other 

side, our finding in the Peloponnese represent the 

westernmost spot of the species range known so far. 

No informations on the ecology of this species are 

available. We found this species in the Peleponnese 

under stones of a spring with a stream outflow (Fig. 

1). The accompaining fauna includes: Planorbis 

atticus B o u r g u i g n a t , 1852 (Gastropoda), Eylais 

mutila K o e n i k e , 1897 (Hydrachnidia) and 

Scarodytes roberti F e r y , 2011 (Coleoptera). In 

Greece, two erpobdellid species have been found 

(see: N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t  1999): 

Erpobdella testacea (S a v i g n y , 1822) and E. 

latestriata (N e s e m a n n  &  N e u b e r t ,  1995).  

Additional field work is highly needed for 

appropriate evaluation of leech biodiversity in 

Greece as well the extant distribution of Erpobdella 

concolor. 

 

References 
 

Grosser, C. & Pešić, V. (2006) On the diversity of 

Iranian leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea). Archives 

of Biological Sciences, 58 (1): 21-24. 

Nesemann, H. & E. Neubert (1999): Annelida, 

Clitellata: Branchiobdellida, Acanthobdellea, 

Hirudinea. – In: Schwoerbel, J., & P. Zwick 

(eds): Süßwasserfauna von Mitteleuropa. 

Begründet von A. Brauer 6/2, 178 pp., 

(Spektrum) Heidelberg 

Siddall, M. E. (2002). Phylogeny of the leech family 

Erpobdellidae (Hirudinea: Oligochaeta). 

Invertebrate Systematics, 16: 1–6. 

Trontelj, P. & Sket. B. (2000) Molecular re-

assessment of some phylogenetic, taxonomic and 

biogeographic relationships between the leech 

genera Dina and Trocheta (Hirudinea: 

Erpobdellidae). Hydrobiologia, 438: 227-235. 

 

 
Fig. 1. The westernmost locality of Erpobdella 

concolor (Annandale, 1913): spring in region of 

Sparti town, Peloponnese, Greece