Leech

:This page is about the blood sucking animal leech. For other uses, see Leech (disambiguation).

Internal anatomy

Leeches are hermaphrodites, meaning they are organisms that have both female, ovary, and male, testes, sexual reproductive organs. Starting from the anterior sucker is the jaw, the Pharynx which extends to the crop, which leads to the Intestinum, where it ends at the posterior sucker. The crop is a type of stomach that works like an expandable storage compartment. The crop allows a leech to store blood up to five times its body size; because of this ability to hold blood without the blood decaying, due to bacteria living inside the crop, medicinal leeches only need to feed two times a year.

Related Topics:
Hermaphrodite - Ovary - Testes - Pharynx - Crop

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