Annellida, Hirudinea, Piscicolidae, Stibarobdella macrothela (Schmarda, 1861): First report for northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This is the first report of Stibarobdella macrothela, a parasitic marine leech, for Ceará (Northeastern Brazil), the second report for Brazil, and the first report for the genus Stibarobdella in Northeastern Brazil. Two specimens separated from the host shark Carcharhinus sp. were identified in the invertebrate collection at LIMCe (Laboratório de Invertebrados Marinhos do Ceará, Universidade Federal do Ceará). This record shows that the distribution of the S. macrothela is continuous in the Western Atlantic Ocean. Here, a brief description of the morphology and a new distributional map of the species is presented.