The expansion of artificial breeding for Whitmania pigra has accelerated significantly. As Poyang Lake serves as a critical source of breeding stock, investigating the reproductive performance of Whitmania pigra in this ecosystem is pivotal for optimizing germplasm resource utilization and advancing the sustainable development of commercial leech aquaculture. Therefore, the wild Whitmania pigras in Poyang Lake were artificially bred under indoor conditions. Parent leeches were categorized into three groups by body weight: large (15.40—20.17 g), medium (10.59—14.78 g), and small (5.27—9.22 g). The weight recovery rates of the parent leeches were calculated, the number of cocoons and larvae produced by each parent leech were counted, and larval vitality were measured to compare the reproductive performance of different specifications of Whitmania pigra. The results showed that the body weight of parent leeches in Poyang Lake decreased significantly after cocooning. The average cocoon production was (3.66±0.85) per leech. The average number of hatchlings was (99.55±39.16) per leech. And the relative fecundity of the body weight was (7.59±2.01) tails/g. The difference in the average number and weight of cocoons laid by large-size and medium-size leeches were not significant, but both of them were significantly greater than those of small-size leeches (). Under starvation conditions, the survival rate of the newly hatched leeches was 100% at 14 days of age, and half of the death time occurred at 83 days of age. Survival activity index was 3 036.73. These findings demonstrate that wild Whitmania pigra from Poyang Lake has robust reproductive capabilities.
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