Know Your Animals # 11 - LEECHES
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Here's today's dose of the creepies and the crawlies.
Hirudinea, more commonly known as LEECHES are tiny little oozy slimy worms that most of us have heard about or have seen. They are particularly peculiar looking and are creatures with segmented bodies. Leeches are renowned for their blood sucking abilities.
Leeches are found in various types of habitats, be it marine or terrestrial. They are parasitic animals and carnivorous in nature.
Did you know that LEECHES are famous throughout history for being used for the removal of blood from patients. That's amazing, right? Read on to know more...
Here are 10 interesting facts that you may or may not know about LEECHES:
1.
Certain species of leech can survive as long as a year without anything to eat. This is mostly thanks to the fact that they can store huge amounts of food to be consumed later for survival.
2.
The largest known leech is the Giant Amazon Leech which can grow pretty darn big - as large as the size of the forearm of a human adult.
3.
Leeches respire through their body walls. Yes, they use the skin on the surface of their bodies to breathe!
4.
A mind-blowing fact - a leech has 32 brains. Wow!
5.
Leeches have a varying lifespan which differs across the various types of species. The longest know lifespan of a leech is around 10 years.
6.
A cool fact about leeches is that they have their suckers for feeding on both ends of their bodies. The jaws which they utilize to bite into their prey's skin possess small teeth which are strong and sharp.
7.
Did you ever wonder why the LEECH bite doesn't hurt? Well, their saliva secretion essentially contains an anesthetic which prevents the victims from feeling the pain of their bites.
8.
Leeches are animals of the type hermaphrodite. This basically means that a single leech possesses both the female and male reproductive organs. And they are even capable to self-reproduce.
9.
Leeches have a poorly developed sense of sight and hearing. Well, they don't possess ears so they basically cannot hear anything and they have very poor vision. They instead rely on their touching and tasting senses for daily functions.
10.
Leeches are hungry little creatures and they eat a lot. They can pile on as much as 5 times their body weight in food intake.
Bonus Facts!
a. Not all leeches suck blood for feeding, although the blood-sucking types are the more famous ones.
b. Leeches have been used in the field of medicine for over 2500 years, and are still being used by the scientific community.
c. Leeches are known to be used in beauty treatments and the blood sucking abilities have helped it find its way into cosmetic procedures.
d. There are nearly 700 species of leeches that inhabit our planet.
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Note – No animals were harmed in the making of this post.
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