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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.
List of annelid families describes the taxa relationships in the phylum Annelida, which contains more than 17,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. [ 1 ] Class Polychaeta
The annelids (/ ˈ æ n ə l ɪ d z /), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (/ ə ˈ n ɛ l ɪ d ə /; from Latin anellus ' little ring '). [ 3 ] [ a ] The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species , including ragworms , earthworms , and leeches .
The subclass Hirudinea (leeches) contains three orders with various habitat preferences. Branchiobdellida are commensal with freshwater crayfish, grazing algae from their exoskeletons. Acanthobdellida are parasitic on freshwater fishes such as grayling. Leeches can be found in nearly every part of the world, in freshwater, terrestrial, and ...
The annelids, collectively called Annelida, are a large phylum of animals, comprising the segmented worms, with about 15 000 modern species including the well-known earthworms and leeches The main article for this category is Annelid .
A prominent feature of Pontobdella leeches are the "wart-like" tubercles which cover their bodies all over. Pontobdella's hosts are generally elasmobranchs – rays, sharks, skates, and sawfish. Each segment of the leech's body (and all leeches have 32) has three or four annuli.
This is a list of the Annelida recorded from Ireland. In Ireland the number of species is: Class Polychaeta 404 species; Class Clitellata; Subclass Oligochaeta 179 species; Subclass Hirudinea 32 species [1] Taxonomy Here the leeches and oligochaetes are placed together in the Class Clitellata. The marine Polychaeta are ranked as a Class.
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 . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Arhynchobdellida is a diverse order, compromising both aquatic and terrestrial , besides sanguivorous and predatory , leeches. [ 3 ]