Are these leeches?

[Holldoll]

I found these on the rocks in my waterfall.  Are they leeches?

[marla]

were they on the underside of the rock and very tiny?  if so I have had those same little squiggly things for the last 6 years, not sure what they are but the koi LOVE to eat them.

[Holldoll]

No, they were on the top of the rocks hanging on for dear life.  They squiggle a lot. I took the rocks from the water fall and put them in the pond and the fish had a HEY Day!! There are a LOT more on rocks that I can't move out of the waterfall though. 

[mascot]

I've had something similar, that in my pond, inside the biofalls and on the filter.  I took a picture and asked an experienced pond guy (who owns a ponding business).  He said he doesn't know what they are, but also said that every pond has them.  So I stopped worrying about them.

[karen J]

Looks like a type of tube worm (Deros). They build a tube stuck to the rock, then hang out and pull food from the moving water. Or they could be larva?

[turtlemike]

   Holldoll they look like leaches to me. 

   I think there is a small leach that is spreading everywhere due to the pond trade. I received some on some plants at some point and I'm sure they have made it into my big mud pond but I have never seen one in it. They look just like yours.

  I know I have them because in one of my pools that I mature surface leaf stage lilies in I had a lot of them for a summer but since then they have all disappeared.  I think they where tropical or sub tropical and died from the cold.

  I figured I would never get rid of them but they seem to be incompatible with conditions here in the wild.
 
  I don't know if they suck blood or if they require a particular host that we don't have here but I never find one on any of my turtles and I never let them get me so I don't know about that.

  I have heard that leaches do not Carry any disease if one does bite you.

   I now soak ALL new plants in a solution of alum and water until all snail eggs are dead and all unwanted snails and leaches have run for there lives and died.      GIANT POND snails EAT PLANTS and I don't want any of them. Dwarf pond snails are fine as are Trapdoor and Ramshorns.

[OldMarine]

HollDoll,

I find them just inside of my skimmer/pre-filter intake pipe in the warmer months of the year. They are about 1/16th of an inch long and are dark brown to a black color. I am going to assume that they are inside the pipe because the fish eat them if they are out in the open pond area. So far as I can tell, they haven't created any problems like making the fish sick or speading desease. My thought is that they might be one of natures little cleanup crews eating any floating waste they can. Otherwise, I really don't see them as a problem or a threat to my pond.

Happy ponding,

Rich   

[Holldoll]

I put some of the rocks in the water with the fish and they were in heaven!  They are all gone on those rocks but still hanging out under the waterfall.  They definitely aren't tube worms, these are wriggly little things.  I don't like knowing they are there now that I will be getting in the pond soon. I'm thinking they like the cooler water than the warm since they showed up in the winter. Maybe by summer they will be gone. 

[LeeAnne151]

There are pond leeches, they move in a really weird way. They stretch out. Hard to describe. They don't wriggle like worms or flip back and forth like mosquito larvea. Their back ends don't move and they stretch out their front ends in all directions. Once you see it you understand.

[tinkster]

ewww! did yall see they are using leaches again for medicinal purposes?? Dr oz had a show on with them on the other day.   also along with magets for people with diabettes.. they can clear up sores that they cant clear any other way.

TMIKE... I was gonna come help you this spring/summer and TRY to brave it without my waders but not now hehehe.. you would bury me there if a leach got on me

tink

[PondmaninAL]

Tink, if they are the blood suckers, which I doubt they are, they'd only stay on you for 15-30 minutes before falling off. Of course, you might be a bit pale in that time period.

[tinkster]

scott.. I am somewhat of a bug/critter phobia.. once glance of something latched onto me would be all it would take, I probalby wouldnd survive it .  I almost had a heart attack when I was filling my pond and a snake swam out from under the rocks I had been crawling all over.  some of those rocks I still have not gotten back on to maintain the ground covers etc around them...

tink

[PondmaninAL]

My oldest brother's wife has arachnophobia. One Halloween, the family had a weenie roast on my sister's property. I had a rubber spider that looked quite real. I snook up behind her and put it on her shoulder. When she noticed it, well, let's just say that you might have heard her at your house.

[bunny56lbc]

My oldest brother's wife has arachnophobia. One Halloween, the family had a weenie roast on my sister's property. I had a rubber spider that looked quite real. I snook up behind her and put it on her shoulder. When she noticed it, well, let's just say that you might have heard her at your house.

I'm suprized u're still living , scott !  or did she not know U put the fake spider on her ? 

bonnie

[LeeAnne151]

One of my favorite restaurants used to put fake plastic spiders in the dinner salads on Halloween. 

[Julles]

'Too, those aren't worms - those are cantalope seeds!   

[turtlemike]

 

  Come on by Tink and we'll give you a crash course of critter desensitization.   You can hold snakes , frogs, leaches,fish,turtles,toads,snails,crayfish, dragonfly larvae,water scorpions,tadpoles,newts, maybe even a Jellyfish. ! Yes I have jellyfish.

[tinkster]

oh well.. that just chinched it.. I will never be swiming in your ponds without my waders   you already know that though huh

tink