Haemadipsidae
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| Haemadipsidae | ||||||||||||||||||||
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17, see text |
Haemadipsidae are a family of "jawed leeches". The latter may or may not be a natural, monophyletic group of hirudiniform proboscisless leeches. The family is monotypic, containing only the subfamily Haemadipsinae. The scientific names mean "blood-drinkers". These leeches have five pairs of eyes.
Commonly known as jawed land leeches, these blood-sucking annelids are known from tropical regions. The other notable group of jawed blood-sucking leeches are the aquatic Hirudinidae.
Well-known Haemadipsidae are for example the Indian Leech (Haemadipsa sylvestris) and the yamabiru or Japanese Mountain Leech (Haemadipsa zeylanica).
[edit] Selected genera
- Amicibdella
- Chtonobdella
- Diestecostoma
- Haemadipsa
- Hygrobdella
- Mesobdella
- Philaemon
- Xerobdella
[edit] External links
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