Bloodsucker discovered: First North American medicinal leech described in over 40 years

Freshwater wetlands from Georgia to New York are home to a previously unrecognized species of medicinal leech, according to scientists. The new species was first identified from specimens collected in southern Maryland less than 50 miles from Washington, D.C., prompting a search through marshes and museum collections that revealed that the leech has long occupied a range that stretches throughout the eastern United States.