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What are these?

Hi all,
LondonDragon said:
do these lay eggs? or they carry the young?
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Both. If you are squeamish don't look at the pictures in the <"Helobdella stagnalis">, although I think it is kind of cute.
dw1305 said:
Because they show parental care you need to remove any larger ones fairly carefully or all the juvenile leeches will escape from under the body. <"The Evolution of Parental Care in Freshwater Leeches">. This was how I was able to pin mine down to <"Helobdella spp">.
<"http://www.uk-wildlife.co.uk/dt_gallery/helobdella-stagnalis/">
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cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Both. If you are squeamish don't look at the pictures in the <"Helobdella stagnalis">, although I think it is kind of cute.
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I did see those photos, pretty cool how someone manage to take them :) I will be happy when I dont see them no more!
 
The good news is the traps are working, I must have taken out at least 20-30! hard to count!!
The bad news I think they figure out a way to escape if the trap is left there for too long.
 
LondonDragon said:
The good news is the traps are working, I must have taken out at least 20-30! hard to count!!
The bad news I think they figure out a way to escape if the trap is left there for too long.
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Take them out for a few days then put them back in!
 
GHNelson said:
Take them out for a few days then put them back in!
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Hot water and salt on them and they are DEAD! :)
I have reset the traps every 2 hours this evening and have caught another 20 or so!
I will keep doing that over the next 2-3 days and see how many more fall for it! ;)
 
As I am working from home today, left traps in there over night and caught a few more, reset the traps this morning and already some in there! that 60cm was infested for sure!
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

What have you baited them with?

cheers Darrel
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81wGNS0FeLL._SL1500_.jpg
 
Conort2 said:
Bloody hell you’re spoiling them before you dispatch them!
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It's pretty effective so I don't mind the premium cost! :)
The alternative is a lot more expensive!
 
I wonder what all the leaches are feeding on to support such a large population? Do they not kill the snails they feed on?
 
Wookii said:
I wonder what all the leaches are feeding on to support such a large population? Do they not kill the snails they feed on?
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I am wondering that too, I have not seen any empty snail shells in the tanks! Considering their number, one thing that I noticed was missing recently was little baby shrimp! I have a feeling they prefer those to snails!

The traps I set last night only caught 2 of them, so I must have caught the majority of them by now, I must have taken out 50-60!
 
LondonDragon said:
I am wondering that too, I have not seen any empty snail shells in the tanks! Considering their number, one thing that I noticed was missing recently was little baby shrimp! I have a feeling they prefer those to snails!

The traps I set last night only caught 2 of them, so I must have caught the majority of them by now, I must have taken out 50-60!
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I had a quick google, and it appears that leeches don't need to feed very often, and some can go 6-12 months without feeding - so that must be why the population can be that large without obvious losses of other aquarium inhabitants.

It may also mean though that your trapping regime might require a long term approach to get them all, especially those that have eaten recently and don't need to feed for a few months.
 
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