ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology2014
Detection and selective avoidance of near ultraviolet radiation by an aquatic annelid: the medicinal leech.
Article in The Journal of experimental biology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circuit-constrained molecular neuroethology in the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
- Injury alters sensory, motor, and integrative elements underlying operant conditioning in the medicinal leech.PloS one · 2025Article
- Spectral responses across a dorsal-ventral array of dermal sensilla in the medicinal leech.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2021Article
- Electrophysiology and transcriptomics reveal two photoreceptor classes and complex visual integration inThe Journal of experimental biology · 2019Article
- Behavioral analysis of substrate texture preference in a leech, Helobdella austinensis.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2019Article
- Responses to mechanically and visually cued water waves in the nervous system of the medicinal leech.The Journal of experimental biology · 2018Article
- Which way is up? Asymmetric spectral input along the dorsal-ventral axis influences postural responses in an amphibious annelid.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2014Article
- Planarian Phototactic Assay Reveals Differential Behavioral Responses Based on Wavelength.PloS one · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Medicinal leeches are aquatic predators that inhabit surface waters during daylight and also leave the water where they might be exposed to less screened light. Whereas the leech visual system has been shown to respond to visible light, leeches in the genus Hirudo do not appear to be as negatively phototactic as one might expect in order to avoid potential ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced damage. I used high intensity light emitting diodes to test the hypothesis that leeches could detect and specifically avoid near UVR (395-405 nm). Groups of unfed juvenile leeches exhibited a robust negative phototaxis to UVR, but had no behavioral response to blue or red and only a slight negative phototaxis to green and white light. Individual leeches also exhibited a vigorous negative phototaxis to UVR; responding in 100% of trials compared with modest negative responses to visible light (responding in ~8% of the trials). The responses in fed and unfed leeches were comparable for UVR stimuli. The responses depended upon the stimulus site: leeches shortened away from UV light to the head, and extended away from UV light to the tail. Electrophysiological nerve recordings showed that the cephalic eyes responded vigorously to UVR. Additionally, individual leech photoreceptors also showed strong responses to UVR, and a higher-order neuron associated with shortening and rapid behavioral responses, the S-cell, was activated by UVR, on both the head and tail. These results demonstrate that the leech can detect UVR and is able to discriminate behaviorally between UVR and visible light.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.