Vocabulary: » Term: » Records: » ID: 671

Click image to see larger image	Leech
Location	http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Leech_blutegel.jpg
Observations	This leech appears to be in a stream or river attached to a rock.
Explanations	One reason why leeches are considered to be annelids is because they have segmented bodies. Leeches suck blood from animals to get food. They release an anesthetic into the animal they are feeding on so that the animal doesn't realize they are feeding on them.
California Standards	Adaptation or extinction
National Standards	Adaptation and behavior
Related NSF Exemplary Curriculum	Animal studies BioKIDS species diversity
Related Sets	Annelids
Creative Commons License	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 License.
Authors	Chris Schuster cs_1@gmx.de None
Publisher	None cs_1@gmx.de May 27 2005
Other Copyright Comments	http://www.chris-schuster.com

This material is based upon work that was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0127164 to California State University Fullerton. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.