- · Grid units represent actual meters (m); human and animals are drawn to the exact same scale with original silhouette aspect ratios preserved.
- · When a size range is recorded (e.g. 1–1.6m), the lower bound is used for scale comparison.
- · Yellow dashed line shows recorded total body length (including tail), which may differ from silhouette width due to posture.
- · East Asian leech silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Hirudo medicinalis)
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
East Asian leech
Hirudo nipponia (East Asian leech · チスイビル)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum body length of 6 cm is slightly longer than the short side of a credit card (about 5.4 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 The National List of Species of Korea evaluates this species as having potential value as a biological resource.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The East Asian leech is a blood-sucking freshwater leech found across Korea as well as in Japan and China. Today, it has become so rare that it is close to extinction in Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has an elongated brown body 4–6 cm long, with 5 bright longitudinal stripes running down the entire back. Its jaws are well developed, and it attaches firmly using its suckers.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It lives in places rich in organic matter, such as the middle and lower reaches of rivers, wetlands, and rice paddies, and readily detects heat or the scent of blood. Today it is hard to see in rivers or rice paddies and is only occasionally found in mountain valley reservoirs.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed on the National List of Species of Korea and occurs nationwide, including the Hangang and Nakdonggang rivers, but its numbers have now declined to near extinction.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • checklistbank.org — PT32W
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000227274 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000227274
- • wikidata.org — Q18572029
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Hirudo medicinalis)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.