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Glossiphoniidae are the family called freshwater jawless leeches or glossiphoniids. They are one of the main groups of Rhynchobdellida, true leeches with a proboscis. These leeches are generally flattened, and have a poorly defined anterior sucker. Most suck the blood of freshwater vertebrates like amphibians and aquatic turtles, but some feed on the hemolymph of invertebrates like oligochaetes and freshwater snails instead. Freshwater jawless leeches are remarkable for their parental care, the most highly developed one among the known annelids. They produce a membranaceous bag to hold the eggs, which is carried on the underside. The young attach to the parent's belly after hatching and are thus ferried to their first meal. There is considerable interest in the symbiontic bacteria that at least some glossiphoniids carry in specialized compartments of the esophagus to aid in digesting their meals. ''Haementeria'' as well as ''Placobdelloides'' have Enterobacteriaceae symbionts, while ''Placobdella'' harbours peculiar and independently derived Alpha Proteobacteria. ==Systematics and taxonomy== The Theromyzinae are a rather enigmatic subfamily and their relationship to other glossiphoniids has so far resisted elucidation. Also, there are several genera of more basal or uncertain position: * ''Batracobdella'' * ''Boreobdella'' * ''Marsupiobdella'' * ''Placobdella'' Blanchard, 1893 - includes ''Desserobdella'' Barta & Sawyer, 1990 and ''Oligobdella'' Moore, 1918, formerly in Glossiphoniinae * ''Placobdelloides'' Sawyer, 1986 - possibly paraphyletic 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Glossiphoniidae」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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