Piscicolidae

Piscicolidae
Piscicola geometra on a trout (Salmo trutta fario)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Clade: Pleistoannelida
Clade: Sedentaria
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Infraclass: Euhirudinea
Order: Rhynchobdellida
Family: Piscicolidae
Johnston, 1865[1][2]
Subfamilies
  • Piscicolinae Johnston, 1865
  • Platybdellinae Epshtein, 1970
  • Pontobdellinae Llewellyn, 1966

The Piscicolidae are a family of jawless leeches in the order Rhynchobdellida that are parasitic on fish. They occur in both freshwater and seawater, have cylindrical bodies, and typically have a large, bell-shaped, anterior sucker with which they cling to their host.[3] Some of the leeches in this family have external gills, outgrowths of the body wall projecting laterally, the only group of leeches to exchange gases in this way.[3]

Worldwide, around 60 genera and 100 species of leeches are in this family, all parasitic on the blood of marine, estuarine, and freshwater fishes. These leeches are less common in the tropics, and more abundant in temperate and polar waters.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Johnston 1865 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Kolb, Jürgen (2018). "Piscicolidae Johnston, 1865". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b Ruppert, Edward E.; Fox, Richard, S.; Barnes, Robert D. (2004). Invertebrate Zoology, 7th edition. Cengage Learning. p. 480. ISBN 978-81-315-0104-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Light, Sol Felty (2007). The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon. University of California Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-520-23939-5.