Hirudo is a genus of leeches of the family Hirudinidae. It was described by Linnaeus in 1758. There are two well-accepted species within the genus: \n* Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758 \n* Hirudo nipponia Whitman, 1886 Three other species, previously synonymized with Hirudo medicinalis, were described in 2005 and are gaining acceptance: \n* Hirudo verbana \n* Hirudo orientalis \n* Hirudo sulukii \n* Hirudo troctina