Erpobdellidae
Encyclopedia
Erpobdellidae is a family
of leech
es. They have three or four pairs of eyes, but never have true jaws, and are typically 20–50 mm (0.78740157480315–2 ) long. Most are scavenger
s on small invertebrate
s, which they often swallow whole.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of leech
Leech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
es. They have three or four pairs of eyes, but never have true jaws, and are typically 20–50 mm (0.78740157480315–2 ) long. Most are scavenger
Scavenger
Scavenging is both a carnivorous and herbivorous feeding behavior in which individual scavengers search out dead animal and dead plant biomass on which to feed. The eating of carrion from the same species is referred to as cannibalism. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by...
s on small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, which they often swallow whole.