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Leeches either have a pharynx that they can protrude, commonly called a proboscis, or a pharynx that they cannot protrude, which in some groups is armed with jaws. [38] In the proboscisless leeches, the jaws (if any) of Arhynchobdellids are at the front of the mouth, and have three blades set at an angle to each other.
Rhynchobdellida (from the Greek rhynchos, mouth, and bdellein, sucking), [1] the jawless leeches [citation needed] or freshwater leeches, [2] are an order of aquatic leeches. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Despite the common name "freshwater leeches", species are found in both sea and fresh water.
These leeches have five pairs of eyes, with the last two separated by two eyeless segments. The family is monotypic , containing only the subfamily Haemadipsinae , though as the family can apparently be divided into two or three distinct lineages, at least one of the proposed splits , while not a distinct family, might be a valid subfamily.
Oligochaetes have a sticky pad in the roof of the mouth. [8] Most are burrowers that feed on wholly or partly decomposed organic materials. [13] Hirudinea, whose name means "leech-shaped" and whose best known members are leeches. [8] Marine species are mostly blood-sucking parasites, mainly on fish, while most freshwater species are predators. [13]
The leech sometimes emerges from the water to hunt for earthworms. [4] [7] Like other leeches, Haemopis sanguisuga is a hermaphrodite. The testes mature first and the ovaries later in the organism's life. A pair of leeches will line up with the clitellar regions in contact, and sperm is passes by the one acting as male to the female gonopore.
As in other species of leech, a cocoon is secreted by the clitellum, a thickened glandular section of the body wall behind the head, and this moves forwards over the head, receiving fertilised eggs from the gonopore on the way. [5] In some areas, Erpobdella obscura has a semelparous life history, i.e., the leech dies after reproduction.
Haementeria ghilianii is a species of leech in the Glossiphoniidae family, comprising freshwater proboscis-bearing leeches. Colloquially, they are known as the Amazon giant leech . Following its initial description in 1849, additional details were provided based on specimens from French Guiana in 1899, after which the species was largely ...
Limnatis nilotica is periodically reported as affecting humans and livestock, entering the host through the mouth, nose, and occasionally through the eye socket, the urethra or vagina. [5] In Iran, a pregnant cow showed respiratory distress and anaemia and was found to have a leech attached to the inside of the cheek and tongue; the cow was ...