Morphological and molecular description of parasitic leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) isolated from rice field of Bandar Anzali, North of Iran

The current study was performed to determine Hirudinea species diversity collected from rice fields of Guilan province June 2012 2020. This reports the most recent information on leech (Annelida, Clitellata) in this region. Morphological characters and DNA barcode analysis were used identify samples. According acquired results, there two families zone (Glossiphoniidae Hirundinidae). Based morphological criteria 5 including Hirudo orientalis, medicinalis, verbana, Helobdella stagnalis Placobdella costata belonging 3 genera identified. For first time, verbana which predominantly bred farms as medicinal southeastern Europe Turkey, reported our study. knowledge fauna Iran is incomplete. Therefore, more comparative studies based molecular techniques should be conducted different regions. distribution Hirudinida Bandar Anzali's wetland province, using genetic sequence assessment.