APPENDIX A 151 



Suborder Pharyngobdellae 

 Family Erpobdellidae 

 These are the leeches with the most extreme modifications for a 

 predaceous life. Some are aquatic, devouring freshwater inverte- 

 brates, while others take up a burrowing existence at the edges of 

 lakes or streams, or occasionally become fully terrestrial, devouring 

 earthworms. 



Genera: Erpobdella Blainville 1818, widespread in the northern 

 hemisphere; Dina E. Blanchard 1892, with a similar distribution, 

 is sometimes regarded as a subgenus of Erpobdella; Trocheta 

 Dutrochet 1817, Europe and Asia; Salifa Blanchard 1897, Africa, 

 Asia; Barhronia Johansson 1918, Africa, India, Malaya, Indo- 

 nesia; Odontobdella Oka 1923, China, Japan, Formosa; Orobdella 

 Oka 1895, Japan; Mimobdella Blanchard 1897, Sumatra, Borneo; 

 Dineta Goddard 1909, Australia; Ornithobdella Benham 1909, 

 New Zealand; Nephelopsis Verrill 1872, N. America. There is a 

 group of S. American genera: Bibula Blanchard 1917; Cylicobdella 

 Grube 1871; Hypsobdella Weber 1913; Lumbricobdella Kennel 

 1886. 



Family Trematobdellidae Johansson 1913 

 Leeches closely resembling the Erpobdellidae but having a pore 

 from the gut to the body wall (on segment XIII), either mid- 

 dorsally or mid-ventrally. 



Genera: Trematobdella Johansson 1913, Africa; Acrabdella 

 Harding 1931, Sumatra; Foraminobdella Kaburaki 1921, India; 

 Gastrostomobdella Moore 1929, Malaya, Sarawak, Borneo, Hawaii. 



The Collection^ Preservation and Identification of Leeches 



Most leeches avoid light and should be looked for under stones 

 or in the crevices of aquatic plants. Blood sucking ectoparasites 

 are sometimes collected with their hosts, but most freshwater 

 species drop off after taking a meal. 



The identification of leeches is rendered difficult or even im- 

 possible by unsuitable preservation. If dropped alive into 

 preservatives such as 70% alcohol or 4% formaldehyde they 

 contract strongly and such features as the eyes and the genital 

 pores are difficult to discern. They should therefore be narcotized 



