Leeches Vs NaCl : Why does the leeches die if we put a salt on it?
Do you know what the Leeches are, these animals usually live in swampy areas and moist places. Leeches are animals that have a scientific name Hirudo medicinalis is very famous as a blood-sucking animal. This animal is included in the Annelida order and Hirudinea class.
Characteristics of Leeches
The characteristics of this animal is its body is flat, has no hair, and has a large suction device on the posterior (tail side) and small suction tool on the anterior (side of the head). This suction tool will stick to the victim and suck his blood. Leeches also have an anti-coagulant substance (anti-blood clotting substances) so that when leeches suck blood, the blood will easily enter the body of the leech because the blood does not freeze.
Scientific classification
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Annelida
Class : Clitellata
Order : Hirudinida
Family : Hirudinidae
Genus : Hirudo
Species : H. medicinalis
Source
There is an interesting thing between leeches with salt. Where that fact when we sprinkle his body with salt or NaCl on his body, then the leech will die.
Why is salt so cruel to kill leeches?
This is due to the osmosis process. Osmosis is the process that occurs where the solution meets the porous membrane. The solution itself is a homogeneous mixture between two or more atoms in a solid phase.
Osmosis is the spontaneous net movement of solvent molecules through a semi-permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, in the direction that tends to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides. Source
This osmosis process occurs due to the transfer of molecules through the porous membrane, from the part of the solution to the solvent. If the osmosis occurs with the part that has more solvent, then the osmosis process will occur and so the concentration of both sides of the solution will be the same.
Animals of leeches also have a lot of water in their bodies, and their bodies are covered with skin which is a porous membrane. So when we sow salt on the body of the leech, the salt will dissolve in the mucus that the leech uses to walk.
Finally be a salt solution, where the concentration of salt solution outside the leech body is higher than in it. So there is osmosis that makes leeches lose a lot of water, dehydration, and die.
We can conclude that many leeches contain low concentrations of fluids, while salts sprinkled on leeches have a high concentration. As a result, the fluid in the body of the leech will move out through the skin so that the leech becomes fluid and dry, so eventually the leech is dead. That's what I can describe hopefully for all of us.
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