Abstract:
Leeches are highly specialized worms and are related to earthworms and a group of marine worms called polychaets. Most live in shallow water, but some have adapted to a terrestrial environment. One terrestrial leech, Haemopis septagon, inhabits North Carolina in the swamps and moist floodplains of the eastern Piedmont and Coastal Plain. It was discovered in 1972 and is one of the newest additions to the state's known fauna.