Giant green leech (Raksasa hijau)

Lintah raksasa or giant green leech (Raksasa hijau) is a species of animal in Salifidae, large green leeches, carnivores, not hematophagic, can grow to lengths of more than 50 cm, the front is perfectly tubular, but it is getting bigger, wider and flat backward.

R. hijau has a front end that ends with a white mouth and has a width equal to the diameter of the front end of the body. The rear end ends with the anus and has a width equal to the diameter of the rear end of the body.

The upper surface is whole dark green or leafy green, looks shiny and has no other additional color features. The bottom surface is lighter or brownish green. The skin is wrinkled like tight, elastic joints that make it possible to lengthen the body.

Giant green leech moves forward by extending the tip of the front of the body to keep the new location farther away and this movement is then followed by the middle body and gradually the rear where the body moves completely.

R. hijau does not suck blood, but swallows whole prey using the mouth. Live above the surface of the soil in leaf litter that is dry and away from standing water, but moist and a lot of dew. This species often appears in more open places and exposes itself to the sun in the morning.

Holotype is found in the Menoreh Mountains, Java, Indonesia, at an altitude of around 1000 meters in a tropical climate where the rainy season is six months and the dry season is six months. This species lives in forests, secondary forests, plantations and abandoned land.

Giant green leeches actively hunt prey, especially earthworms. Some people watch this animal often seen jumping when lightning, but there has been no report whether the behavior is related to electrical sensory.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Infraclass: Euhirudinea
Order: Arhynchobdellida
Family: Salifidae
Genus: Raksasa
Species: Raksasa hijau

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