Life in Madagascar

Filmed for the first time: Leeches can also jump!

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

Until now it was just anecdotal evidence from locals, but now a research duo has been able to document for the first time that certain species of leech can actually jump. The scientists filmed the little bloodsuckers jumping off leaves in Madagascar (see video above).

Mai Fahmy from the American Museum of Natural History filmed the jumping leeches of the species Chtonobdella fallx during two expeditions to Madagascar in 2017 and 2023. "This is the first conclusive evidence that leeches actively jump and expend energy in the process. Previous reports of leeches jumping on humans were mostly dismissed as accidental contact. Our study dispels these doubts," says Fahmy.

Fluke rears up like a snake
The images now published show how the fluke rears up like a snake ready to attack before jumping forward off the leaf. The species is probably a common jumper and performs the movement elegantly despite its clumsy landings, the researchers report in their study, which was recently published in the journal "Biotropica".

The leech shortly before jumping off a leaf

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

Co-author Michael Tessler from CUNY's Medgar Evers College, compared the movement of the relatively slender bloodsucker to a "cobra bending backwards" and referred to the leech's stretched posture during flight. "We don't know how often this happens and whether the leeches use this ability to get to hosts."

Several jumps documented
However, the fact that several jumps have been documented is an indication "that the behavior is possibly a common one in this species", says Tessler. The animals have the musculature, the coordination ability and the tendency to perform jumps, the scientists write in the journal "Biotropica".

Madagascar is home to five percent of all animal and plant species worldwide. Almost three quarters of all species found there cannot be found anywhere else outside the East African island.