CAMDEN – Just in time for the Halloween season, the Rutgers–Camden Campus is offering the perfect opportunity for a good scare. Three species of North American terrestrial leeches, including one recently discovered in South Jersey, are on display in the Science Building lobby until Nov. 1.
Contrary to popular belief, most leeches are not bloodsuckers. In fact, they are so playful that the creepy crawlers on display at Rutgers are housed with marbles for recreational use. According to Dan Shain, leech specialist and associate professor of biology at Rutgers–Camden, leeches would “make far better pets than hermit crabs.”
Five years ago, Shain’s expertise was needed when the Ott family discovered a foot-long creature outside their Alloway home. Shain not only identified it as a leech, but as an unknown species that he aptly named Haemoposis ottorum for the curious family who was brave enough to capture it.
Shain and then-graduate student Beth Wirchansky conducted extensive field research to get this new species recognized by the scientific community. Now, Haemoposis ottorum and the only other known North American terrestrial leeches are enjoying their temporary home on the Rutgers–Camden Campus.
The display is free and open to the public on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For interviews or to schedule a tour, contact Cathy Donovan at (856) 225-6627.
The Science Building is located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers–Camden Campus. For directions to Rutgers–Camden, visit camden.rutgers.edu.
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Written by Courtney Preston.
Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
(856) 225-6627
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu