First Record of the Predatory Leech Whitmania laevis (Hirudinea: Hirudiniformes: Hirudinidae) from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, with New Insights into the Phylogenetic Relationships within Whitmania

Abstract

Leeches of the predatory genus Whitmania Blanchard, 1888 were collected from Yonaguni Island in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and are identified as W. laevis (Baird, 1869). This represents the first record of this species from the Ryukyu Islands. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, which were performed using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, [Cys]tRNA, [Met]tRNA, 12S rRNA, [Val]tRNA, and 16S rRNA markers, reveal that the Yonaguni population of W. laevis is genetically close to the Taiwanese populations. The mitochondrial phylogeny also shows that W. laevis is a sister species of W. edentula (Whitman, 1886), which is indigenous to the Japanese Archipelago.