Hirudo medicinalis together with Hirudo verbana?

[Lenka]

Hello,
I have one H. verbana leech and I wanted to get a few H. medicinalis. Do you think I could keep them in a tank together? Seeing as they had been considered to be the same species until recently. Does anybody have any tips or experience?

 

[schmiggle]

I would guess that you wouldn't see more cannibalism than in a monospecific tank, but you might have hybrid offspring if they reproduce. If you're ever planning on selling these or releasing them (I believe they're native to Slovakia? If not, don't release them of course) I would keep them separately; if not, I personally don't anticipate any issues.

 

[Lenka]

H. medicinalis are native to Slovakia and they are endangered. You cannot release H. verbana because they could compete with H. medicinalis. I was thinking of separating them once I decide to breed them, until then I wouldn't provide conditions for breeding. I just hope I can distinguish the species from each other Thanks for your input!