By Lauren Liebhaber
In a dark, damp cave in southeastern China, a creature with three jaws and a taste for blood clung to the rock ceiling, colored red from its recent meal.
Researchers manually removed a specimen and three others like it for further study, later revealing it to be a new species of “bloodsucking land leech,” according to a study published April 8 in the journal Animals.
Sinospelaeobdella jiangxiensis, or the jiangxiensis land leech, “lives on the roofs and sidewalls of wet karstic caves close to the bat populations coexisting in the same area,” researchers said.
The leech’s specialized diet of bat blood has allowed it to survive in cave environments where bats roost and hibernate, according to the study.
Many land leeches are opportunistic predators and will feed on different vertebrates when given the chance. However, several cave-dwelling land leeches appear to have developed the ability to detect bat skin, according to the study.
Researchers said bat migration likely played a role in the distribution of cave leeches. For this reason, they expect the new species to exist in surrounding caves, according to the study.
The new leech species has three jaws, five pairs of eyes aligned in a U-shape, a disc-shaped “caudal sucker” for attachment, and a long conical body that changes size and shape depending on how much blood it consumes, according to the study.
The leech’s body lacks pigment, which is commonly seen among cave-dwelling species, according to the study.
Compared to other land leech species, the jiangxiensis leech has simpler eyes and a more enhanced ability to detect and respond to chemical changes in its environment, both of which are likely due to it living in near-total darkness, according to the study.
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Given the host-parasite relationship between bats and the jiangxiensis land leech, researchers recommend additional study on how viruses may be transmitted within bat populations by leeches.
The new species was discovered in a cave in Ganzhou City in southwestern Jiangxi Province, a region abundant with caves and sinkholes.
The research team included Tianyi Li, Yuhang Liu, Chen Zhang, Hao Gu, Zheng Cheng, Jie Peng, Jiang Feng and Ying Liu.
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Lauren Liebhaber covers international science news with a focus on taxonomy and archaeology at McClatchy. She holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University and a master’s degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Previously, she worked as a data journalist at Stacker.
