Life Of Leeches

There is some dispute as to whether Hirudinea should be a class itself, or a subclass of the Clitellata. The resolution mainly depends on the eventual fate of the oligochaetes, which do not form a natural group as traditionally circumscribed. Another possibility would be to include the leeches in the taxon Oligochaeta, which would then be ranked as a class and contain most of the clitellates. The Branchiobdellida are leechlike clitellates that were formerly included in the Hirudinea, but are just really close relatives.
The more primitive Acanthobdellidea are often included with the leeches, but some authors treat them as a separate clitellate group. True leeches of the infraclass Euhirudinea have both anterior and posterior suckers. They are divided into two groups: Arhynchobdellida and Rhynchobdellida
• Rhynchobdellida) are "jawless" leeches, armed with a muscular, straw-like proboscis puncturing organ in a retractable sheath. The Rhynchobdellae consist of two families:
- Glossiphoniidae are flattened leeches with a poorly defined anterior sucker.