Leeches

I've seen "proper" leeches before in natural ponds, marshes etc.
However, when buying some oxygenators for our small pond, I noticed what
looked like a small transparent leech.

I *thought* I'd hosed it off the plants before the went in, but today there
were three hiding in the folds of the liner.

I managed to net them out, but wondered are they the same as the "normal"
leeches" and can I get rid of them for good ?

Peter

Transparent leeches?!
I haven't ever come across or heard of those
beasties. Can you describe it a bit more?
Does it have a mouth and does it move about?
Can you remove it from the liner?


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 22:55:54 +0100, "2pods"
wrote:

I've seen "proper" leeches before in natural ponds, marshes etc.
However, when buying some oxygenators for our small pond, I noticed what
looked like a small transparent leech.

I *thought* I'd hosed it off the plants before the went in, but today there
were three hiding in the folds of the liner.

I managed to net them out, but wondered are they the same as the "normal"
leeches" and can I get rid of them for good ?

Peter

Why not leave them alone. Most leaches are scavengers or predators on
smaller organisms, the minority are ectoparasites (blood suckers)

They serve as fish food as well.


--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Transparent leeches?!
I haven't ever come across or heard of those
beasties. Can you describe it a bit more?
Does it have a mouth and does it move about?
Can you remove it from the liner?


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Hi Kathy

To me, it looked like a small (about an inch and a half) see-through leech.
You know, bigger and flat at the top with the rest of it tapering down to a
rounded end.

As I say, there were three of them huddled in the corner folds of the liner
(it's a raised pond, so I can see right into the corners.)

Peter

Peter, you've got to get down there, pry one off and check it out for me. Might
you have a digital camera? Or a magnifying glass?
I'm very curious ;-)

Have you ever seen snail eggs? They are transparent and are glommed onto
things, like liners. They could look like a transparent leech.
The only other transparent things I've seen were, what I think, hapless
caddisfly larva deposited by their mother with no pebbles and sticks with which
to build their cocoon. They eventually wound bits of string algae around
themselves.

This is what I know about leeches.
Most eat vegitative and decaying matter. Handy to have around. I've kept them
inside to keep glass ponds clean. A few suck blood but they look like blood
suckers.
You can always test your leech by offering it yourself (not recommended) or a
piece of raw liver.
There are also flatworms who look like leeches.
If you look closely you can see two eyes on the top of their heads, or front
ends, as opposed to their tail ends.

Leeches can be caught, if they are the carnivorous kind, by suspending a
strawberry basket in the pond with some raw liver bait.




kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

I'll take the camera down tomorrow and see if I've left any :-)

I want to take some shots of a diving beetle to see if it's a pest or not
anyway.

Peter

ummm... cause the idea of getting one on you is
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!



Kate

"Charles" wrote in message
...
| On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 22:55:54 +0100, "2pods"
| wrote:
|
| I've seen "proper" leeches before in natural ponds, marshes etc.
| However, when buying some oxygenators for our small pond, I noticed what
| looked like a small transparent leech.
|
| I *thought* I'd hosed it off the plants before the went in, but today
there
| were three hiding in the folds of the liner.
|
| I managed to net them out, but wondered are they the same as the "normal"
| leeches" and can I get rid of them for good ?
|
| Peter
|
| Why not leave them alone. Most leaches are scavengers or predators on
| smaller organisms, the minority are ectoparasites (blood suckers)
|
| They serve as fish food as well.
|
|
| --
|
| - Charles
| -
| -does not play well with others

Leeches are in my pond. That's why I wear hip boots when I'm in
there. Whenever I have to evict a snapping turtle, I find that it is
covered with leeches. There's a way to catch leeches using some raw
beef liver, but I'd only do that if I wanted to use them for fish
bait.

I managed to find another one, but the light here (west of scotland) is
awful for photos just now.

This one is smaller (1 inch) and wrigglier (?) and looks like a transparent
worm which keeps going into a U shape.

Peter

Peter wrote This one is smaller (1 inch) and wrigglier (?) and looks like a
transparent
worm which keeps going into a U shape.

I entered 'transparent leeches' in google and I got back this very interesting
page
http://www.4qd.org/Aqua/Worms.html
(also got all sorts of B movie hits...)
and I like this critter
Oligochaeta
because it mentions transparent versions.
And this page is from the UK.
This here
http://images.google.com/images?q=Ol...hl=en&btnG=Goo
gle+Search
is a link to google images.
(Do *not* view with a wonky stomach!)



kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html