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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.
The Glossiphoniidae, the freshwater jawless leeches, [citation needed] or leaf leeches (due to their shape) [11] are freshwater leeches, flattened, and with a poorly defined anterior sucker. [2] The family Glossiphoniidae contains one of the world's largest species of leech, the giant Amazon leech , which can grow up to 45 cm in length. [ 12 ]
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. [1]
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 ...
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.
Leeches, order Hirudinida, [4] mostly have flattened bodies, usually tapered at both ends. They have a fixed number of segments, 33, but the segmentation is not visible externally because the cuticle is marked with annulations. Leeches do not bear chaetae. The front few segments or head have been modified into a sucker that usually surrounds ...
Leeches that hunt in the morning are found in larger sizes than those who hunt in the afternoon. Therefore, feeding in the morning seems to be more nutritious for the leeches than in the afternoon. Terrestrial Euhirudinea leeches, which inhabit tropical or subtropical environments have been found a greater number on-trails compared to off-trail ...
Erpobdella lineata is a leech found in Europe. These leeches show a preference for calcic waters and have a tolerance to pollution. They have a digestive tract that consists of mouth, pharynx, esophagus, six-chambered stomach, three-chambered intestine, rectum, and an anus. Its nervous system contains 21 pairs of cell compartments. [2]