Screenshots from the first conclusive videographic evidence that at least one leech species (Chtonobdella sp. from Madagascar) can jump, showing the leech coiling back before taking off. Credit: © Mai Fahmy
Scientists publish footage of Madagascar Chtonobdella leeches jumping, rebutting previous doubts.
A study has documented terrestrial leeches jumping from leaves, exhibiting spring-like movements. This newfound behavior, observed in the Chtonobdella genus during Madagascar field studies, revises our understanding of leech mobility.
Video evidence that at least one
This video taken in Madagascar in 2017 shows a Chtonobdella leech taking a small jump followed by a big leap to the ground. Credit: © Mai Fahmy
Observational Insights From Madagascar
During two separate expeditions to Madagascar in 2017 and in 2023, Fahmy recorded footage of leeches from the genus Chtonobdella coiling back on a leaf and then taking off. Fahmy and coauthor Michael Tessler, an assistant professor at CUNY’s Medgar Evans College and a research associate at the Museum, compare this motion to a “back-bending cobra,” or to a spring being pulled back. In both cases, the leech keeps its body extended as it soars through the air to the ground, in a notable departure from their usual inchworm-like movements.
“Essentially, it executes a graceful jump but with a seemingly hard landing,” Tessler said.
This video taken in 2023 in Madagascar shows two Chtonobdella leeches questing on the same leaf and briefly interacting with each other. Then, as in the 2017 video, one leech assumes a recoiled body posture before jumping from the leaf to the ground. Credit: © Mai Fahmy
Comparison With Other Jumping Invertebrates
Several other worm-like
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