#4909 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
European Medicinal Leech
🇳🇱 Medicinale bloedzuiger ·Hirudo medicinalis
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © mgreilhuber · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Andre Hosper · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © Antonia Bookbinder · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. © mgreilhuber · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Juan J. Morales-Trejo · CC0
- 6. © ajott · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © ajott · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
Hirudo medicinalis , the European medicinal leech , is one of several species of leeches used as " medicinal leeches ".
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 14 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 408 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- European Medicinal Leech
- Nederlands
- Medicinale bloedzuiger
- scientific name
- Hirudo medicinalis
- class
- Clitellata
- order
- Arhynchobdellida
- family
- Hirudinidae
- IUCN Red List
- NT · near threatened
- sightings in NL
- 14
- sightings in Europe
- 336
- sightings worldwide
- 408
- GBIF records in NL
- 468
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: gevoelig. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 357886, Wikidata Q30041, GBIF 2308887, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.