The Kinabalu giant red leech is a large (≤30 cm long) bright orange-red coloured leech that is endemic to Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Very little is known about this animal although it has been identified as Mimobdella buettikoferi Blanchard, 1897.

The Kinabalu leech is not hematophagic and feeds only on worms such as the Kinabalu giant earthworm, Pheretima darnleiensis. It lives in damp earth and leaves in cracks between the rocks and can be found in Kinabalu Park at an altitude of 2,500-3,000 m where the trail runs over a rocky outcrop near to the Mempening and Paka Cave shelters. It is usually seen during or after heavy downpours.

References

External links

• The giant leech and giant worm in Kinabalu Park, Borneo, Malaysia