Matrotrophy, the continuous extra‐vitelline supply of nutrients from the parent to the progeny
during gestation, is one of the masterpieces of nature, contributing to offspring fitness and …

The family Glossiphoniidae is a diverse and widespread clade of freshwater leeches,
playing a significant role in functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The taxonomy and …

With more than 700 described species, leeches include morphological, physiological, and
behavioral diversity and occur in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, including freshwater …

Background Medicinal leeches became infamous for their utility in bloodletting popularized
in the 19 th century, and have seen a recent resurgence in post-operative treatments for flap …

The carapace and plastron bones of fossil turtles are often characterized by bone
modification features such as pits, grooves, and holes. The significance, origin, and …

Although medicinal leeches have long been used as treatment for various ailments because
of their potent anticoagulation factors, neither the full diversity of salivary components that …

Placobdella is a genus of blood-feeding leeches in the family Glossiphoniidae. Historically,
species of Placobdella have posed difficulty for systematists owing to a lack of informative …

The phylogeny of the Piscicolidae was analysed from combined 18S rDNA, cytochrome c
oxidase subunit I (CO‐I), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit I (ND‐I) …

Freshwater leeches of the genus Helobdella Blanchard 1896 are small, proboscis‐bearing
glossiphoniids of the family Rhynchobdellidae that have been found worldwide. Over the …

Parental care is uncommon within Annelida. However, a remarkable exception is in the
leech family Glossiphoniidae in which all its members keep their offspring attached to the …