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Of the 650 species of leech listed, Hirudo medicinalis is one of the most extensively studied. This annelid from the subclass Hirudinea has 2 suckers, one housing the mouth and its 3 jaws. It lives mainly in the stagnant waters of marshes and ponds. When it comes to reproduction, the animal is a hermaphrodite. Inseminated leeches lay their eggs during the spring and summer months, outside the water, with cocoons containing as many as thirty young.
For other uses, see Leech (disambiguation). Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like the oligochaetes, such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from the oligochaetes in significant ways. For example, leeches do not have bristles and the external segmentation of their bodies does not correspond with the internal segmentation of their organs.