Diversity of Hirudinea

500 species of leeches.

Most leeches are in freshwater & Few leeches on marine fishes.

A most primitive group of leeches lack their anterior suckers.

Their anterior segments are septate & pairs of setae present on them.

Parasitic on salmon fish.

1. Acanthobdella.

Acanthobdella.

Some leeches have an anterior sucker & eversible proboscis.

They are strictly aquatic & parasitic on both vertebrates and invertebrates.

Some of them are flattened.

Ectoparasitic on Molluscs.

2.Glossiphonia.

Glossiphonia

They are flattened.

An ectoparasite of molluscs .

3.Ozobranchus.

Ozobranchus

They are sub-cylindrical fish leeches.

They have gills.

4.Piscicola & Pontobdella.

Piscicola

Pontobdella

They are lack gills.

5.Hirudo.

Hirudo

Hirudo is a freshwater & ectoparasitic leech on cattle.