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Family GLOSSIPHONIIDAE Vaillant, 1890

Introduction

The Glossiphoniidae is a cosmopolitan family of freshwater leeches that occur in rivers, lakes and ponds. There are both predacious and sanguiviorous species in this family. The sanguiviorous species mostly feed on amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish with only a few able to feed on mammals. Glossiphoniids feed by utilising a protrusible proboscis that can penetrate the host's skin. Siddall et al. (2005) studied the phylogeny of this family, but on the basis of non-Australian material.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
26-Sep-2012 MODIFIED