''Erpobdella'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
leech
Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodie ...
es in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Erpobdellidae
Erpobdellidae is a family of leeches. It is one of the four families belonging to the suborder Erpobdelliformes of the proboscisless leeches order, Arhynchobdellida.
Their members have abandoned the blood feeding habits of their ancestors and ...
. Members of the genus have three or four pairs of eyes, but never have true jaws, and are typically long. All members do not feed on blood, but instead are
predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
s of small aquatic
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s, which they often swallow whole.
Species
The genus includes species previously classified under the genera ''Croatobranchus'', ''Mooreobdella'', ''Trocheta'' and ''Nephelopsis''. These were synonymized into ''Erpobdella'' by Sidall (2002) after morphogenetic analysis. There are over 30 currently accepted species:
* ''
Erpobdella adani''
(Tessler, Siddall, & Oceguera-Figueroa, 2018)
* ''
Erpobdella anoculata''
(Moore, 1898)
* ''
Erpobdella bhatiai''
Nesemann, 2007
* ''
Erpobdella borisi''
Chichocka et al., 2015
* ''
Erpobdella bucera''
(Moore, 1953)
* ''
Erpobdella bykowski''
(Gedroyc, 1913)
* ''
Erpobdella concolor''
Annandale, 1913
* ''
Erpobdella costata''
Sawyer & Shelley, 1976
* ''
Erpobdella dubia''
(Moore & Meyer, 1951)
* ''
Erpobdella fervida''
( Verrill, 1874)
* ''
Erpobdella japonica''
(Pawlowski, 1952)
* ''
Erpobdella johanssoni''
(Johansson, 1927)
* ''
Erpobdella krasense''
(Sket, 1968)
* ''
Erpobdella lahontana''
Hovingh & Klemm, 2000
* ''
Erpobdella luguensis''
Liu, 1984
* ''
Erpobdella melanostoma''
(Sawyer & Shelley, 1976)
* ''
Erpobdella mestrovi''
(Kerovec, Kučinić & Jalžić, 1999)
* ''
Erpobdella mexicana''
(Dugès, 1872)
* ''
Erpobdella microstoma''
(Moore, 1901)
* ''
Erpobdella monostriata''
(Lindenfeld et Pietruszynski, 1890)
* ''
Erpobdella nigricollis''
(Brandes, 1900)
* ''
Erpobdella obscura''
( Verrill, 1872)
* ''
Erpobdella octoculata
''Erpobdella octoculata'' is a freshwater leech in the Erpobdellidae family. This species can be found in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East (Iran and Turkey).
Description
This tube- shaped species ranges from 3– 7 cm long. ...
''
( Linnaeus, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
)
* ''
Erpobdella ochoterenai''
Caballero, 1932
* ''
Erpobdella parva''
(Moore, 1912)
* ''
Erpobdella punctata''
(Leidy, 1870)
* ''
Erpobdella quaternaria''
(Moore, 1930)
* ''
Erpobdella subviridis''
(Dutrochet, 1817)
* ''
Erpobdella testacea''
(Savigny, 1820)
* ''
Erpobdella tetragon''
(Sawyer & Shelley, 1976)
* ''
Erpobdella triannulata''
Moore, 1908
* ''
Erpobdella vilnensis''
(Liskiewicz, 1925)
* ''
Erpobdella wuttkei''
Kutschera, 2004
References
Leeches
Annelid genera
{{Annelid-stub