A newly discovered blood-sucking species of leech with three jaws and 59 teeth makes its home in New York.

In the Summer of 2015, while scientists were letting leeches latch onto their bare legs in the Maryland area, a previously unknown leech species were found among the leeches.

The Macrobdella mimicus is the first new leech to be found in America in over 40 years, officials say.

The new species is olive-green with orange spots. It's as long as a cigarette and as wide as two. Each leech has three jaws with about 60 teeth, which it can use to suck blood from humans, according to Smithsonian research zoologist Anna Phillips.

After doing more investigating, officials say the new creature makes its home from Northern Georgia to New York.

"It’s not something new that’s come up; it’s something that has been there the whole time, unrecognized,” Phillips said.

In fact, officials now believe the Macrobdella mimicus leech specimen was first collected in New York in 1937, according to Phillips.

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