Erpobdellidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

leeches 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 bo ...

. It is one of the four families belonging to the suborder Erpobdelliformes of the proboscisless leeches order,

Arhynchobdellida Arhynchobdellida, the proboscisless leeches, are a monophyletic order of leeches. They are defined by the lack of the protrusible proboscis that defines their sister taxon, the Rhynchobdellida.Uttam, Suneha, and Seema Langer.Distribution and Ide ...

. Their members have abandoned the blood feeding habits of their ancestors and are instead predators of aquatic invertebrates. The family previously contained seven genera, but Siddall (2002) synonymized five genera (''Croatobranchus'', ''Dina'', ''Mooreobdella'', ''Trocheta'' and ''Nephelopsis'') into the genus '' Erpobdella'' based on morphogenetic analysis, with the remaining genus ''

Motobdella ''Motobdella'' is a genus of leeches in the family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to mai ...

'' possibly a sister group and thus retained. This decision was not accepted by scientific community. The family currently contains 3 genera ''Erpobdella'', ''Dina'' and ''Motobdella''. The genus '' Mimobdella'' was also sometimes included within Erpobdellidae or

Gastrostomobdellidae Gastrostomobdellidae is a family of annelids belonging to the order Arhynchobdellida. Genera: * ''Gastrostomobdella'' Moore, 1929 * ''Kumabdella'' Richardson, 1971 References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21228818 Annelids ...

but is now accepted to be under the family Salifidae.

References

Leeches {{Annelid-stub