Abstract: Fecundity, survival and growth were compared in newly hatched early juveniles, juveniles and adults of leechWhitmaniapigracollected from Luoma Lake (Suqian, Jiangsu Province,SQ), Wujin Lake (Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, XH), Taihu Lake (Wujiang, Jiangsu Province, WJ), Zhugan River (Dawu, Hubei Province, DWX),and Songhua River (Binxian, Heilongjiang Province, BX) to find out the local breeding suitability of the different geographical leech populations. Results showed that there was no significant difference in number and weight of cocoons, and number of newly hatched early juveniles per adult with the similar body weight among the five leech populations (P>0.05). There was a positive relationship between body weight of adult leech and weight of cocoons and number of newly hatched juveniles per cocoon, without significant difference in survival rate of newly hatched early juveniles from hatching to 21 days post hatching(P>0.05). From 11 days post hatching, however, the newly hatched early juveniles from BX had lower growth index than those from the other four areas did within 21 days post hatching (P>0.05). The juveniles from Jiangsu Province (Luoma Lake, Wujin Lake and Taihu Lake) had higher survival rate than those from BX and Hubei province within 121 days, with lower growth index in the leech from BX than in the leech from other 4 areas from 30 days post hatching to 121 days post hatching. In conclusion, the leech from the three geographical populations in Jiangsu Province is suitable for culture in Suqian City, and it is best to choose adults or juveniles from the place where the environment is similar to the local place for breeding.
2018, Vol. 33 
