''Chtonobdella fallax'' is a species of
leech
Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
es belonging to the family
Haemadipsidae
__NOTOC__
Haemadipsidae (From Greek "haima" and "dipsa" ("blood" and "thirst", respectively)) are a family of jawed leeches. They are a monophyletic group of hirudiniform proboscisless leeches. These leeches have five pairs of eyes, with the l ...
;
also known by its synonym ''Malagabdella fallax'' and having originally been placed in the related jawed land leech genus ''
Haemadipsa'' by
Raphaël Blanchard in 1917.
[Blanchard R (2017]
Monographie des hémadipsines (sangsues terrestres). ''Bulletin de la Societe de Pathologie Exotique''
10: 640–675. It is a relatively common species in the
tropical forest
Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the Tropic of Cancer, tropics of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing ...
s of
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
.
[
''C. fallax'' is notable in that (before final identification) video evidence was provided by Mai Fahmy and Michael Tessler]
References
External links
Video of the "jumping leech"
Fauna of Madagascar
Haemadipsidae
Animals described in 1917
Taxa named by Raphaël Blanchard
{{Annelid-stub