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United States Science

A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C. (smithsonianmag.com) 80

Posted by BeauHD from the lost-and-found dept.
schwit1 shares a report from Smithsonian: In the summer of 2015, when Smithsonian research zoologist Anna Phillips and other scientists were standing in slow-moving swamp water, letting leeches latch onto their bare legs or gathering them up in nets from muddy pond bottoms, they didn't realize that some of the bloodsuckers they'd collected belonged to an entirely new species. But in a just-published paper in the Journal of Parasitology, Phillips and her colleagues from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and the Royal Ontario Museum report that a previously unknown leech species, Macrobdella mimicus, is the first to be discovered on the continent in more than 40 years.

Parasitologists typically rely on the arrangement of pores on the bottom of leeches' bodies to help distinguish species. With a close inspection, the researchers noticed a subtle difference in the spacing of the leeches' accessory pores. (While leeches are hermaphrodites, they mate with other leeches, and accessory pores secrete mucus that allows the mating leeches to stick together.) M. decora had four accessory pores grouped in two rows of two, just like the outlier group, but the new species had a set of pores located several millimeters farther back on their body. The similar pore pattern, however, led Phillips and the other scientists to name the new species Macrobdella mimicus, after the Greek word for "imitator" or "actor." The new species is olive-green with orange spots, about as long as a cigarette and as wide as two. It has three jaws, each containing 56 to 59 teeth (fewer than M. decora), which it can use to bite and siphon blood from humans. Leeches like this species can suck two to five times their body weight in blood thanks to expandable pockets in their intestines, explains Phillips.
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A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C. More

A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C.

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  • Well, yeah... (Score:5, Funny)

    by fustakrakich ( 1673220 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @03:03AM (#59096374) Journal

    DC is the natural habitat of the leech

  • Washington DC is famous for its leeches (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Mostly a lurker ( 634878 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @03:17AM (#59096390)

    Contrary to what was promised. There is no sign that the swamp is being drained, and the leeches forced to go elsewhere.

    • Re:Washington DC is famous for its leeches (Score:5, Funny)

      by thegreatbob ( 693104 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @03:37AM (#59096408) Journal
      Every time I hear "drain the swamp", I think of this thing: https://upload.wikimedia.org/w... [wikimedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Freischutz ( 4776131 )

      Contrary to what was promised. There is no sign that the swamp is being drained, and the leeches forced to go elsewhere.

      It’s not Trump‘s fault that everybody just assumed that he meant he’d drain the swamp into the nation’s jails. He said he’d drain the swamp and he did, he just drained it into his administration.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by DNS-and-BIND ( 461968 )
      It turned out that the swamp was far more powerful than anyone thought, and the office of the presidency still isn't enough to root them out. The extent to which the unelected government takes actions that are not in the interest of the public has been astonishing in its enormity. They run the country, not the president, not the courts, and certainly not Congress.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • It turned out that the swamp was far more powerful than anyone thought, and the office of the presidency still isn't enough to root them out.

        In fairness, the office of the presidency isn't even trying to root them out.

        • Of course it is. That's one of the first orders of business for a president: Remove all the corrupt, politically-driven scum that their predecessor put in, and replace them with corrupt, politically-driven scum that owe their loyalty to the new president and his party. Draining the swamp is just the preparation to fill it again with a slightly different swamp.

          Trump's swamp is particularly fetid, though. A secretary of education who has proudly stated she wishes to close down all public schools, an EPA admin

    • There is no sign that the swamp is being drained

      Of course it was. It was drained, construction crews came in, and worked round the clock to quickly build a bigger, dirtier swamp.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mysidia ( 191772 )

      There is no sign that the swamp is being drained, and the leeches forced to go elsewhere.

      I wasn't aware of swamplands in Washington DC... But wouldn't draining them constitute destroying the environment? I'm sure there would be a significant number of voters opposed to that one.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        Part of Washington was built on a drained swamp. There were no environmentalists in those days. Too bad too, because when the sea levels rise another foot, Washington too will be swamped again by the Potomac. It even has tides. See Miami for how well that's working out for them.

    • He did drain the swamp ( a healthy ecosystem aka wetland) and replaced it with an open sewer.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by ebvwfbw ( 864834 )

        Last I heard, they're mostly still in offices on K street.

        -jcr

        Lawyer row. Know it well. When the OJ verdict was coming down they had TV sets on the streets so they could watch when it happened.

        These guys live very well off. Like $50,000 Rolex watch type well off and it's not fake. Get invited to one of their Christmas parties sometime. Dress your absolute best because it'll probably be their minimum standards. I was at a very prominent Dem firm's party. One that's in the news. The price for some of the women's dresses is enough to feed a veteran for 3-6 months I bet.

  • Non-standard. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Farmer Tim ( 530755 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @03:31AM (#59096402) Journal

    With a close inspection, the researchers noticed a subtle difference in the spacing of the leeches' accessory pores.

    So they were designed by Apple.

  • Well, yeah! we already know that Washington DC is infested with leeches. It's what it is well known for. I don't see how anything is entirely new there.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      You mean like the ones who administer Social Security and Medicare so Grandma doesn't have to move in with you? Or the ones that populate the FDA so Bert's Fishbait and Cancer Drugs doesn't confuse the earth worms with your cancer medicine. Or NTSA who diagnose airline crashes so that an acceptable level of carnage isn't part of the financial planes of the nation's airlines. Need I go on?

      • Re:Aren't most of the politicians leeches? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @11:14AM (#59096940) Journal

        Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

        All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too.

        He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

        In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some liberal crybaby fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

        Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

        He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

        Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

        If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

        It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

        Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

        Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

        He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

        The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

        He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

        Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by HiThere ( 15173 )

          Teddy Roosevelt was *not* a "tree-hugging commie". I could think of other appropriate terms of abuse, but despite setting up the National Park system, that isn't one of them.

          Political discourse in this country has gotten remarkably stupid over the last few decades. If you're going to be stupid I much prefer the older form:
          "Ma, ma, where's my pa?
          Gone to the White House, ha, ha ha."
          "Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine,
          Continental liar from the state of Maine."

      • my parents are living on pension and savings, just like I plan to do... your grandparents must be losers who didn't plan for the future.

        The FDA is in pockets of big pharmy for the "D" part of their name, and a lot of dangerous things slide right on by. They can't even ensure the quality of 1 percent the food supply, so get that nonsense out of your rainbow-farting-unicorn head.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by q_e_t ( 5104099 )

          my parents are living on pension and savings,.

          I'm sure they also get social security. If not, they were leaving money on the table.

          • yeah people who don't need it take out social security too.

            Funny thing about social security it that it's the most trivial thing in the world to fix despite all the whining about it. The income subject to SS tax has been frozen for years, just raise it to $250K and problem solved... or let there be no limit, tax the 1% for it too.

  • standing in slow-moving swamp water, letting leeches latch onto their bare legs

    ... said no child ever in response to the question: what do you want to do when you grow up?

  • A new species of leeches in DC? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:54AM (#59096560)

    The US finally got a third party?

    • You gotta have a second one first.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by ebvwfbw ( 864834 )

        You gotta have a second one first.

        We have two parties now. A lot of people missed the change over. We had the Republicans and Democrats. We also had people who claimed to be independent though they would only ever vote for one party or the other.
        Now the Democrats have been hijacked by the Communists. Check out their philosophy and platform. There is no difference between them. We also have the Republicans, which should be the old Dems and Republicans. Most of the Dems I know have already realized this and moved over.

  • This leech is an invasive Russian species. My colleagues and I have reason to believe it was smuggled in by Moscow Mitch on one of his cocaine boats. I'm not at liberty to discuss further aspects of the investigation.

  • Proof positive . . . (Score:3)

    by indytx ( 825419 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @06:56AM (#59096640)

    This is proof positive that someone needs to drain the swamp! They're evolving!

  • Sponsored by Phillip-Morris (Score:4, Funny)

    by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Saturday August 17, 2019 @07:07AM (#59096658)
    The leech was 1 cigarette long and the width of 2 cigarettes? Was this research sponsored by a tobacco company? Remember, Winston tastes good like a cigarette should...

    • And were those standard (unfiltered) cigarettes, regular filter cigarettes, king size filtered cigarettes, or lady cigarettes?

      While unfiltered and filtered cigarettes are all the same diameter, they differ in length. And ladies like them even longer but thinner ...

  • Donabella Trumpicus. I've seen it before

  • Smithsonian researcher describes a previously unknown species of olive-green bloodsucker that has three jaws with up to 59 teeth.

    Karma.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ebvwfbw ( 864834 )

      Smithsonian researcher describes a previously unknown species of olive-green bloodsucker that has three jaws with up to 59 teeth.

      Karma.

      I have to say, that's a goddam lie. In order for that to be true it would also have to have an insatiable appetite for sex. With anything around. Even fly in other things via birds.

  • They just write themselves.

  • They should be able to find common DNA sequences unique to the organism. Otherwise, its just another politician...

  • I know, I know, beating dead horse etc.

  • wasn't disappointed, even though they write themselves.

  • Dad jokes incoming

  • Does anyone actually care about the newly-discovered species, or are we just going to take this handy little convenience as a chance for some political rambling?

    I'm not going to fight the inevitable - I've put down three political comments already.

    • It's really hard to say something intelligent about leaches. I can't even say, "Wow, I didn't expect this!" because I am too ignorant on the matter to expect or not expect something.
  • I have the believe that different species exist because they were separated in space so they could not breed together, or they specialized to use a different environment or food source. Why do these two species live side by side?
    • Random roll of the DNA dice, it's neither good or bad in the current environment. Should the local conditions change so could the ratio of wide/narrow leeches. Did you really even try to reason this out, or did I miss the whooshing noise?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
      Species lives in one pond. Pond divides, two species develop. Geography changes, becomes one pond again, but two species.

  • New species to be named MAGAt.

  • Came here for comments about the actual leach in the article...left because I couldn't find any!
  • The door has been flung wide open for jokes....

  • A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C.

    Some jokes just write themselves.

  • Somehow this is a real headline.

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