Laboratory Confirmation of the Stinkpot Turtle, Sternotherus odoratus, as a Host of Placobdella ornata (Verrill, 1872) (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae)

ABSTRACT: Although there is a large literature base reporting Placobdella ornata utilizing numerous turtle host species, those reports are all based on misidentifications of the leech resulting from taxonomic confusion in the literature and are thus invalid. In the original description of Clepsine phalera (junior synonym of P. ornata), it was suggested that the stinkpot turtle, Sternotherus odoratus, is a host of P. ornata. Nevertheless, no host has been definitively documented for P. ornata. When introduced to S. odoratus in the laboratory, individuals of P. ornata readily attached and fed. Duration of feeding was short, less than 24 hr. Individuals of P. ornata did not feed on various amphibians, fish, or a human.