---
title: "Pijawka lekarska"
description: "Hirudo medicinalis — Inne zwierzęta. Hirudo medicinalis, or the European medicinal leech, is one of several species of leeches used as medicinal leeches."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/european-medicinal-leech
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Pijawka lekarska

> Hirudo medicinalis — Inne zwierzęta. Hirudo medicinalis, or the European medicinal leech, is one of several species of leeches used as medicinal leeches.

- Scientific name: *Hirudo medicinalis*
- Category: `other` (Inne zwierzęta)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Jeziora i rzeki)
- iNaturalist observations: 403
- Wikidata: [Q30041](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30041)
- iNaturalist taxon: [357886](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/357886)

## Names

- en: European Medicinal Leech
- de: Medizinischer Blutegel
- es: Sanguijuela
- fr: Sangsue médicinale
- it: Sanguisuga
- nl: Medicinale bloedzuiger
- pl: Pijawka lekarska

## Countries with the most observations

UA (56), RU (53), DE (35), PL (34), LT (24), GB (17), SE (17), FR (15), NL (14), AT (10), CZ (9), BY (8)

## Summary

Hirudo medicinalis, or the European medicinal leech, is one of several species of leeches used as medicinal leeches.
Other species of Hirudo sometimes also used as medicinal leeches include H. orientalis, H. troctina, and H. verbana. The Asian medicinal leech includes Hirudinaria manillensis, and the North American medicinal leech is Macrobdella decora.
Medicinal leech populations were reduced significantly in many countries during the 19th century due to the high demand in medical contexts, and remain endangered in many countries today.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis

## Photo

![Pijawka lekarska](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/european-medicinal-leech/medium.jpg)

Photo: Liubov Ilminska · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/238046974

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/european-medicinal-leech?lang=pl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).