A study on the anatomy features of local leeches, hirudinea manillensis (Dark leech)

Leech (Hirudinea) is generally classified as an invertebrate belongs in the phylum of Annelida that consists of a group of animals which made up of several thousand species which has multi-segmented body. Leeches are a class of segmented invertebrates, known for their blood-feeding habits and used in phlebotomy to treat various ailments since antiquity. Through use of morphology of the leech, it has been able to help identify numerous species of leeches. In this study, the anatomy features of leech from the species Hirudinea manillensis or locally known in Malaysia as Buffalo leech was examined and key features were collected. Specimen was obtained from local supply of Buffalo leech with dark brown color as its distinctive characteristic. The leech was rear in aquarium tank as preparation before the experiment. The experiment was conducted by collecting key description on external and internal anatomical features of the leech through observation and recording anatomy figures with graphite drawing and digital imaging.