MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC VARIATION OF FRESHWATER LEECHES (ANNELIDA, CLITELLATA, HIRUDINEA) FROM EUPHRATES RIVER IN THE MIDDLE OF IRAQ

Leeches are a group of segmented worms that play important roles in aquatic environment based on diversity, and abundance feeding habits. A total of 144 specimens of the leech were collected from two sites in Babylon Province on the Euphrates River including S1 in Al-Musayyib city site and S2 in Shatt Al-Hillah site, during the period from March 2023 to May 2024. Specimens were examined morphologically and by molecular analysis of genomic DNA, using to amplification of the conserved 18S rRNA encoding gene and universal primers ITS1 and ITS4, some environmental variables were measured, including water and air temperature (°C), pH, Electrical conductivity EC (µs ̸ cm), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) and Turbidity, in addition to sediment texture analysis. The result showed that the collected specimens belonged to four species, including Barbronia cf. gwalagwalensis Westergen & Siddall, 2004, Barbronia borealis Bolotov, Eliseeva & Kondakov, 2023, Barbronia weberi Blanchard, 1897, and Barbronia arcana Richardson, 1970; all these species belong to the family Salilfidae and order Hirudinida. The significance of this discovery is the addition of four new record species to Iraqi fauna.