Amphilinidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of parasitic

flatworm Platyhelminthes (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a Phylum (biology), phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation (biology), ...

s of the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; : phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below Kingdom (biology), kingdom and above Class (biology), class. Traditionally, in botany the term division (taxonomy), division has been used instead ...

Platyhelminthes. It is the only family in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

order Amphilinidea. Amphilinids are

Cestode Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. Their bodies co ...

s, yet differ from true tapeworms ( Eucestoda) as their bodies are unsegmented and not divided into

proglottid Cestoda is a Class (biology), class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. T ...

s. "Amphilinids are large worms which have a flattened leaf-like body. Only 8 amphilinid species are known." "The adults are hermaphroditic. A muscular

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

is located at the anterior end, and is sometimes very weakly developed or absent." They live in the

body cavities A body cavity is any space or compartment, or potential space, in an animal body. Cavities accommodate organs and other structures; cavities as potential spaces contain fluid. The two largest human body cavities are the ventral body cavity, a ...

of freshwater

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s and teleost fish as adults, and in the bodies of various

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s as juveniles. Apart from a little studied

parasitism Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

, these

s have very little economic importance. Biologically, they have gained attention for their potential to shed light on the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

of tapeworms.

Subordinate taxa

* Genus '' Amphilina'' Wagener, 1858 ** '' Amphilina foliacea'' (Rudolphi, 1819) Wagener, 1858 ** '' Amphilina japonica'' Goto & Ishii, 1936 * Genus '' Australamphilina'' Johnston, 1931 ** '' Australamphilina elongata'' Johnston, 1931 * Genus '' Gephyrolina'' Poche, 1926 ** '' Gephyrolina paragonopora'' (Woodland, 1923) * Genus '' Gigantolina'' Poche, 1922 ** '' Gigantolina magna'' (Southwell, 1915) Poche, 1922 ** '' Gigantolina raebareliensis'' Srivastav, Mathur & Rani, 1994 * Genus '' Nesolecithus'' Poche, 1922 ** '' Nesolecithus africanus'' Dönges & Harder, 1966 ** '' Nesolecithus janickii'' Poche, 1922 * Genus ''Schizochoerus'' Poche, 1922 ** '' Schizochoerus liguloides'' (Diesing, 1850)

References

Cestoda Platyhelminthes families Taxa named by Franz Poche {{Cestoda-stub