LEECH FAUNA OF NORTH-EAST INDIA (ANNELIDA: HIRUDINEA).

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura States comprise North-East India. More than 700 species of leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) are known in the world. In India, 82 leech species are recorded currently. Of the total number of leeches in all of India, 67 species, 24 genera and 5 families, are fresh water and 15 species, 1 genus, 1 family, are terrestrial. In North-East India there are 15 species, 9 species are freshwater and 6 species are terrestrial. Freshwater leeches are reported mostly from South India, West India, West Bengal, but unexplored in the north eastern regions of Sikkim and Gujarat. Freshwater leech species are well recorded: Jammu and Kashmir (27), Rajasthan (24), West Bengal (23), Andhra Pradesh (21), Himachal Pradesh (17), Tamil Nadu (15), Maharashtra (14), Karnataka (10), Meghalaya (9), Uttarakhand (8), Assam (6), Tripura (5) and Manipur (2). Terrestrial leeches are well documented from Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]