The Kinabalu giant red leech is a large bright orange-red coloured leech that is endemic to Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. It can grow to a length of over 50 cm (20 in).
Haemadipsidae are a family of jawed leeches. They are a monophyletic group of hirudiniform proboscisless leeches. 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.
Pearson's horseshoe bat is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.
The least horseshoe bat is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is found in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. It is a food source of the parasite Sinospelaeobdella, a jawed land leech.
Arhynchobdellida, the proboscisless leeches, are classified as an order of the Hirudinea. More recently, this order has been rejected and replaced with a newer classification. Still, leech taxonomy and systematics may eventually need to be revised, not because of the many uncertainties exist about their phylogeny, but because the major clades of clitellate annelids - and whether the clitellates are themselves a clade - have not been fully elucidated. For example, the "true leeches" (Euhirudinea) might actually be synonymous with the Hirudinea, as all other leech-like annelids might not be very closely related to the true leeches.
The Hirudiniformes are one of the currently-accepted suborders of the proboscisless leeches (Arhynchobdellida). Their best-known member is the European medical leech, Hirudo medicinalis, and indeed most of the blood-sucking "worms" as which leeches are generally perceived belong to this group. In general, though some leeches suck blood, many are predators which hunt small invertebrates.
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 bodies that can lengthen and contract. Both groups are hermaphrodites and have a clitellum, but leeches typically differ from the oligochaetes in having suckers at both ends and in having ring markings that do not correspond with their internal segmentation. The body is muscular and relatively solid, and the coelom, the spacious body cavity found in other annelids, is reduced to small channels.
Xerobdellidae are a small family of "jawed leeches". The latter might be a natural, monophyletic group of hirudiniform proboscisless leeches. Xerobdellidae have three jaws and five pairs of eyes, the fourth and fifth being separated by one or two eyeless segments. The genera placed herein occur in Chile (Mesobdella), Europe (Xerobdella) and Diestecostoma is found in Central and northern South America. This peculiar distribution strongly suggests they are a relict Pangaean group, which had already been present by the start of the Jurassic 250 million years ago.
Phytobdella catenifera is a large terrestrial leech found in Peninsular Malaysia. John Percy Moore chose this species’ epithet ‘catenifera’ after the striking chain-striped pattern on the creature's back.
Erpobdella is a genus of leeches in the family Erpobdellidae. Members of the genus have three or four pairs of eyes, but never have true jaws, and are typically 20–50 millimetres (0.8–2.0 in) long. All members do not feed on blood, but instead are predators of small aquatic invertebrates, which they often swallow whole.
Erpobdellidae is a family of leeches. It is one of the four families belonging to the suborder Erpobdelliformes of the proboscisless leeches order, Arhynchobdellida.
Placobdella parasitica is a species of leech found in North America. Leeches are habitual ectoparasites of vertebrates in aquatic environments. Placobdella parasitica is differentiated from other members of the genus Placobdella by its smooth dorsal surface, simple to complicated pigmentation, and abdomen with 8 to 12 stripes.
Orobdella masaakikuroiwai is a species of proboscisless leech from Japan.
Anna J. Phillips is an American Research Zoologist and curator of Clitellata and Cestoda at the National Museum of Natural History's Department of Invertebrate Zoology. As a parasitologist her research focuses on leeches and tapeworms, by studying their diversity, relationships, and host associations. She has traveled all over the world with her fieldwork to study the diversity of these invertebrates on a long range.
Praobdellidae is a family of hematophagous leeches which live on the mucous membranes of mammals and sometimes invertebrates. These are internal parasites that enter the body through natural orifices, and cause hirudiniases.
Orobdella is a genus of leeches. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Orobdellidae. They are large annelids, with the largest species exceeding 20 cm (7.9 in) in length, but some are much smaller: mature individuals of Orobdella koikei can measure only 4 cm (1.6 in). They inhabit the banks of mountain streams and feed on earthworms. The majority of species are endemic to Japan; two species are known from Taiwan, one from Korea, and one from Russian Far East.
Orobdella ketagalan is a species of terrestrial leech in the order Arhynchobdellida, the proboscisless leeches. It is endemic to northern Taiwan. It is known from the vicinity of Taipei, including its type locality, Yangmingshan National Park. The specific name refers to the native Taiwanese Ketagalan people inhabiting the area. The closest known relative of Orobdella ketagalan is Orobdella meisai from southern Taiwan, followed by Orobdella dolichopharynx and Orobdella shimadae from the Ryukyu Islands (Japan).
Hirudinaria is a genus of large Asian leeches belonging to the family Cylicobdellidae; previously it was placed in the Hirudinidae. It includes species such as H. manillensis that may be called "Asian medicinal leeches", but together with the genus Poecilobdella, they are also described as Asian buffalo leeches.
Poecilobdella is a genus of Asian leeches belonging to the family Hirudinidae. Together with the genus Hirudinaria, they have been called Asian buffalo leeches.
