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.

Contents

• Ribbon leech hirundinea erpobdellidae young with cocoon
• Ribbon leech hirudinea erpobdellidae newly hatched
• References

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) recently synonymized five genera (Croatobranchus, Dina, Mooreobdella, Trocheta and Nephelopsis) into the genus Erpobdella based on morphogenetic analysis, with the remaining genus Motobdella possibly a sister group and thus retained. The family currently contains 39 species in 2 genera (37 in Erpobdella and 2 in Motobdella).

The genus Mimobdella was also sometimes included within Erpobdellidae or Gastrostomobdellidae but is now accepted to be under the family Salifidae.